
Class _ 

Book_ . 



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CQEXRISHT DEPOSUi 



Tributes of Great Men 
to Jesus Christ 




"They Presented unto Him Gifts; Gold, Frankincense, 
and Myrrh." — Mt. 2:11. 






Tributes of Great Men 
to Jesus Christ 



COMPILED AND EDITED 
BY 

REV. ARTHUR H. DeLONG 

AND 

REV. ALLEN P. DeLONG 




New York Chicago Toronto 

Fleming H. Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



- ' — — — 







"They Presented unto Him Gifts; Gold, Frankincense, 
and Myrrh." — Mt. 2:11. 



Copyright, 1918, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 






FES 18 1918 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street,W. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street 



©CI.A492311 

-wo J 





o» 







THIS BOOK 
IS DEDICATED TO 
THE MEMORY OF 

MOTHER 



" Whom do men say that I the Son of man 
am f" — Jesus. 

" Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living 
God/' — Simon Peter. 




am? 



PEEFACE 

Whom do men say that I the Son of Man 



It was neither idle curiosity nor personal 
vanity which prompted our Lord and Master 
to ask His disciples this important question. 
He well knew that the success of His Kingdom 
depended, in a great measure, upon what men 
believed and said concerning His personality. 
What was true in the days of His flesh is true 
today. What men have said and are still say- 
ing of the Christ is not only a matter of intel- 
lectual interest to the world but also of vital 
importance to the kingdom of God. 

For two thousand years Jesus Christ has 
been the one central character of human his- 
tory. It would be strange indeed if we did not 
wish to know what the great men in every age 
of the world's history thought and said of Him. 

The most striking fact in modern life is the 
growing interest in, and reverence for, the char- 
acter and teachings of Jesus Christ. More and 
more the cry of the Greeks, " We would see 



10 Preface 

Jesus/' is becoming the world's cry. It may be 
that, as we view Him through the mind's eye 
of others, our own vision of Him will be en- 
larged, our appreciation of Him increased and 
our faith in Him greatly strengthened. 

The following pages not only contain the 
largest and best collection of the sayings of 
great men concerning the Christ ever published, 
but have been selected with great care from a 
wide range of literature and contain some of 
the very choicest gems of the greatest authors 
who have lived. 

It is with the hope that these selections may 
be of value, not only to Ministers and Bible 
Students, but to all persons who love to do Him 
honor, that this book is given to the public. 

Aethue H. DeLong. 



TRIBUTES OF GREAT MEN 
TO JESUS CHRIST 

My son, God will provide himself a Lamb 
for a burnt offering. — Genesis 22 : 8. 

— Abraham, Hebrew Patriarch. 
1996-1818 b. c. 

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, 
nor a law giver from between his feet, until 
Shiloh come ; and unto him shall the gathering 
of the people be. — Genesis 1+9 : 10. 

— Jacob, Hebreiv Patriarch. 

1836-1689 b. c. 

The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a 
Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy breth- 
ren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken. 
— Bent. 18:15. (See John 5:1^5, 6:1^.) 
— Moses, Hebrew Law Giver. 

1571-1451 b. c. 

I shall see Him, but not now: I shall be- 
hold Him, but not nigh: There shall come a 

11 



12 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out 
of Israel. — Numbers 2 J/.: 17. 

— Balaam, Prophet of Pethor. 
1451 — b. c. 



And He shall be as the light of the morning, 
when the sun riseth, even a morning without 
clouds ; as the tender grass springing out of the 
earth by clear shining after rain. — II Samuel 
23:4- 



His name shall endure forever: His name 
shall be continued as long as the sun: and men 
shall be blessed in Him : All nations shall call 
Him blessed.— Psa. 72: 17. 

— David, King of Israel. 

1085-1015 b. c. 



For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is 
given: and the government shall be upon his 
shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonder- 
ful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlast- 
ing Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Of the increase of his government and peace 
there shall be no end. — Isaiah 9 : 6-7. 




Heinrich Hofmann 
THE BOY OF NAZARETH AT TWELVE YEARS 

Engraved from the Painting of "Jesus and the Doctors " 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 13 

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he 
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make 
his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his 
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleas- 
ure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and 
shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my 
righteous servant justify many; for he shall 
bear their iniquities. 

Therefore will I divide him a portion with 
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with 
the strong; because he hath poured out his 
soul unto death : and he was numbered with the 
transgressors ; and he bare the sin of many, and 
made intercession for the transgressors. — 
Isaiah 53: 10-11-12. 

—r- Isaiah, Prophet of Israel. 

712 — b.c. 

And the Desire of all nations shall come and 
I will fill this house with glory. — Haggai 2: 7. 
'■ — Haggai, Prophet of Israel. 
520 — b. c. 

And I cannot help thinking, Socrates, that 
the form of the Divine Shepherd is even higher 
than that of a King. 

— Plato, Greek Philosopher. 

429-347 b. c. 



14 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly 
come to his temple, even the messenger of the 
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall 
come, saith the Lord of hosts. — Malachi 3:1. 

But unto you that fear my name shall the 
Sun of Eighteousness arise with healing in his 
wings. — Mai. Jf.: 2. 

— Malachi, Prophet of Israel. 

397 — b.c. 



But there shall come from heaven a Won- 
drous Man, 
"Whose hands were stretched out on the fruitful 

wood, 
The noblest of the Hebrews, . . . 
With admirable speech and hallowed lips. 
No longer vex thy soul, nor put a sword 
Unto thy bosom, O thou child of God, 
Rich, only-longed-for flower, thou goodly light, 
Thou consummation noble, longed-for, pure. 

— Sibylline Oracles. Apocryphal 
160 — b. c. Jewish Writings. 



And at that hour that Son of Man was named 
in the presence of the Lord of Spirits and His 
name before the Head of Days. And before 
the sun and the signs were created, before the 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 15 

stars of the heaven were made His name was 
named before the Lord of Spirits. He will be 
•a staff to the righteous on which they will sup- 
port themselves and not fall, and He will be 
the Light of the Gentiles and the Hope of those 
who are troubled of heart. All who dwell on 
earth will fall down and bow the knee before 
Him and will bless and laud and celebrate with 
song the Lord of Spirits. And for this rea- 
son has He been chosen and hidden before Him 
before the creation of the world and for ever- 
more. 

— Book of Enoch, Apocryphal 
144 — b. c. Jewish Writings. 



And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary : 
for thou hast found favour with God. And, 
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and 
bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son 
of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give 
unto him the throne of his father David : And 
he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; 
and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then 
said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, 
seeing I know not a man? And the angel an- 
swered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall 
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest 



16 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy 
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called 
the Son of God. — Luke 1 : 30-35. 

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth 
heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped 
in her womb ; and Elisabeth was filled with the 
Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud 
voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, 
and blessed is the fruit of thv womb. And 
whence is this to me, that the mother of my 
Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as 
the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine 
ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And 
blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a 
performance of those things which were told 
her from the Lord. — Luke 1 : J^l-Jf5. 

— Elisabeth, the Mother of John the 

5 b. c. Baptist 

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the 
Lord, And my spirit h-ath rejoiced in God my 
Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate 
of his handmaideu: for, behold, from hence- 
forth all generations shall call me blessed. For 
he that is mighty hath done to me great things ; 
and holy is his name. And his mercy is on 
them that fear him from generation to genera- 
tion. He hath shewed strength with his arm; 
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 17 

of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty 
from their seats, and exalted them of low de- 
gree. He hath filled the hungry with good 
things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 
He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remem- 
brance of his mercy ; As he spake to our fathers, 
to Abraham and to his seed for ever. — Luke 1 : 
1+6-55. 

— Maey, the Mother of Jesus. 
5 B. c. 



And the angel said unto them, Fear not : for, 
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, 
which shall be to all people. For unto you is 
born this day in the city of David a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a 
sign unto you ; Ye shall find the babe wrapped 
in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And 
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude 
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good will toward men. — Luke 2: 10-11+* 

5 b. c. 

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast pre- 
pared before the face of all people; A light to 



18 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people 
Israel. Behold, this child is set for the fall 
and rising again of many in Israel; and for a 
sign which shall be spoken against. — Luke 2: 
29-34. 

— Simeon, a Jewish Prophet, 
4 B. c. 



Where is he that is born King of the Jews? 
for we have seen his star in the east, and are 
come to worship him. — Mat. 2:2. 

•■ — Wise Men from the East. 

4 B. c. 



Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 
the sin of the world. This is he of whom I 
said, after me cometh a man which is preferred 
before me : for he was before me. And I knew 
him not: but that he should be made manifest 
to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with 
water. 

I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like 
a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew 
him not: but he that sent me to baptize with 
water, the same said unto me. " Upon whom 
thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and re- 
maining on him, the same is he which baptizeth 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 19 

with the Holy Ghost." And I saw and bare 
record that this is the Son of God. — John 1 : 
29. 

— s John the Baptist, Forerunner of 
28 a. d. Jesus Christ. 

We have found the Messias, which is, being 
interpreted, the Christ. — John 1:1^1. 

— Andrew, one of the First Disciples 
28 a. d. of Jesus. 

Eabbi, thou art the son of God; thou art the 
King of Israel. — John 1 : 1$. 

— Nathaniel, one of the First Dis- 
28 a. d. ciples. 

Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Come, see a man, which told me all things that 
ever I did : is not this the Christ ? 

— Woman of Samaria. 
28 A. D. 

We have heard him ourselves, and know that 
this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world. 

— Samaritans. 

28 A. D. 

What manner of man is this, that even the 
wind and the sea obey him? — Mark J/.:Jfl. 

— Disciples of Jesus. 
28 A. D. 



W Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

John have I beheaded; but who is this, of 
whom I hear such things ? — Luke 9 : 9. 

This is John the Baptist; he is risen from 
the dead ; and therefore mighty works do shew 
themselves in him. — Mat. 11/.: 2. 

■■ — Herod Antipas, 

29 a. d. Tetrarch of Galilee. 

When Jesus came into the coast of Csesarea 
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom 
do men say that I the Son of Man am? And 
they said, Some say that thou art John the 
Baptist: some, Elias: and others, Jeremias, or 
one of the prophets. 

He saith unto them, But whom say ye that 
I am? And Simon Peter answered and said: 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. 
— Mat 16:13-16. (See also Mark 8:21, 
Lk. 9:18, Jn. 6:68-69. 

— Simon Peter, 

29 a. d. Disciple and Apostle. 

Is not this JesuSj the son of Joseph, whose 
father and mother we know? how is it then 
that he saith, I came down from heaven? — 
John 6: If 2. 

-. — Jews of Christ's Day. 

29 — A. D. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 21 

I am the bread of life. — John 6 : 35. 

I am the light of the world. — John 8: 12. 

I am the good shepherd. — John 10: 11. 

I am the resurrection and the life : he that be- 
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in 
me shall never die. — John 11:25-26, 

I am the way, the truth and the life : no man 
cometh unto the father, but by me. 

He that hath seen me hath seen the father; 
and how sayest thou then shew us the father? 
— John U: 6,9. 

— Claims of Jesus, 

30 — a. d. concerning himself. 



Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come 
from God; for no man can do these miracles 
that thou doest, except God be with him. — 
John 3: 2, 

NlCODEMUS, 

30 a. d. a ruler of the Jews, 



Hosanna to the Son of David ; Blessed is he 
that cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna 
in the highest. — Mat, 21 : 9. 

— Multitude in Jerusalem. 

30 A. D. 



22 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Never man spake like this man. — John 7 : 
J+6. 

— Officers of the Sanhedrln 

or Temple Police. 
30 A. D. 

I have sinned in that I have betrayed the in- 
nocent blood. — Mat. 27 : Jf. 

— Judas, 

Traitor among the Disciples, 

30 A. D. 

He casteth out devils through the prince of 
the devils. — Mat 9:3)+. 

This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with 
them. — Luke 15:2. 

— Pharisees, 

A religious Sect of the Jews. 

30 A.D. 

He hath spoken blasphemy; what further 
need have we of witnesses ? behold, now ye have 
heard his blasphemy. — Mat. 26: 65. 

— Caiphas, Jewish High Priest. 

30 A. D. 

Ye have brought this man unto me, as one 
that perverteth the people : and, behold, I, hav- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 23 

ing examined him before you, have found no 
fault in this man touching those things whereof 
ye accuse him. — Luke 23:14. 

— Pontius Pilate, 
Roman Procurator of Judea. 

30 A. D. 

Have thou nothing to do with this just man : 
for I have suffered many things this day in a 
dream because of him. — Mat. 27: 19. 

30 a. d. — Pilate's Wife. 

This man hath done nothing amiss. — Luke 

23: J+1- 

30 a. d. — Thief on the Cross. 

Certainly this was a righteous man. — Luke 
23:1^7. 

Truly this man was the Son of God. — Mark 
15: 39. 

— Roman Centurion, 
30 a. d. at the Crucifixion. 

Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet 
mighty in deed and word before God and all 
the people. — Luke 21/.: 19. 

— Cleopas and John, 
30 a. d. Disciples of Jesus. 



24 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

* ——^ — » ■■■■■■ I ■ ■ ■ "— *^^^— ^— *^— ^— ' Mi l ■ ' " I ■!!■■■■ ■— dS— 1 1 

And tlie angel answered and said nnto the 
women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek 
Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: 
for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place 
where the Lord lay. — Mat. 28: 5-6. 

30 a. d. — Angels at the Tomb. 



And Thomas answered and said unto him, 
My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, 
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast 
believed: blessed are they that have not seen, 
and yet have believed. — John 20 : 28-29. 

— Thomas, called Didymus, 

30 a. d. one of Disciples of Jesus. 



]SJow, there was about this time Jesus, a wise 
man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he 
was a doer of wonderful works, and a teacher 
of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. 
He drew over to him both many of the Jews, 
and many of the Gentiles. He was (the) 
Christ. And when Pilate at the suggestion of 
the principal men amongst us, had condemned 
him to the cross, those that loved him at the 
first did not forsake him; for he appeared to 
them alive again the third day, as the divine 
prophets had foretold these and ten thousand 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 25 

other wonderful things concerning him. And 
the tribe of Christians so named for him, are 
not extinct at this day. 

— Elavius Josephus, 
37-100 a. d. Jewish Historian. 



The name (Christian) was derived from 
Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius, suffered 
under Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea. 
By that event the sect, of which he was 
founder, received a blow which for a time 
checked that growth of a dangerous supersti- 
tion ; but it revived soon after, and spread with 
recuperated vigor, not only in Judea, the soil 
that gave it birth, but even in the city of Rome. 
— Caius Cornelius Tacitus, 

55-117 a. d. Roman Historian. 

Who, being in the form of God, thought it 
not robbery to be equal with God: but made 
himself of no reputation, and took upon him 
the form of a servant, and was made in the 
likeness of men : and being found in fashion as 
a man, he humbled himself, and became obedi- 
ent unto death, even the death of the cross. 
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, 
and given him a name which is above every 
name: that at the name of Jesus every knee 



26 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

should bow, of things in heaven, and things in 
earth, and things under the earth; and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ 
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Phil. 
2:6-11. 

Who is the image of the invisible God, the 
firstborn of every creature : for by him were all 
things created, that are in heaven, and that are 
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or 
powers : all things were created by him, and for 
him.— Col. 1:15. 

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the 
Godhead bodily. — Col. 2:9. 

— Paul, Apostle of Jesus Christ. 

61 — A. D. 



Eighty and six years have I served Him, and 
He has done me nothing but good, and how 
could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour? 
If you would know what I am, I tell you 
frankly, I am a Christian. 

— Polycaep, 
Christian Father and Martyr. 
69-155 a. d. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word 
was with God, and the Word was God. The 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ Wl 

same was in the beginning with God. All 
things were made by him; and without him 
was not anything made that was made. 

In him was life ; and the life was the light of 
men. And the light shineth in darkness and 
the darkness comprehended it not. — John 1: 
1-5. 

— St. John, Disciple and Apostle. 

90 A. D. 



Come fire, come cross, and crowds of wild 
beasts; come tearing, breaking, and crunching 
of my bones : come the mutilation of my mem- 
bers, and shattering of my whole body, and all 
the dreadful torments of the Devil, so I may 
but attain to Jesus Christ. 

I would rather die for Christ than rule the 
world. 

— Ignatius, 
Apostolic Father and Martyr. 

First Century. 



The Christians are still worshipping that 
great man who was crucified in Palestine. 

— • St. Lucian, Christian Martyr. 
250-312. 



28 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

My Christ and God was exceedingly beauti- 
ful in Countenance. His stature was fully de- 
veloped, his height being six feet. He had 
auburn hair, quite abundant, and flowing down 
mostly over his whole person. His eyebrows 
were black and not highly arched; his eyes 
were brown and bright. He had a family like- 
ness, in his fine eyes, prominent nose, and good 
color, to his ancestor David, who is said to have 
had beautiful eyes and a ruddy complexion, 
He wore his hair long, for a razor never touched 
it; nor was it cut by any person except his 
mother in his childhood. His neck inclined 
forward a little so that the posture of his body 
was not too upright or stiff. His face was full, 
but not quite so round as his mother's; tinged 
with sufficient color to make it handsome and 
natural; mild in expression, like the blandness 
in the above description of his mother whose 
features his own strongly resembled. 

— Epiphanitjs, 
One of the Church Fathers. 

310-407 a. d. 



" I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the 
only-begotten Son of God: Begotten of His 
Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of 
Light, Very God of Very God. Begotten, not 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 29 

made ; Being of one substance with the Father ; 
By whom all things were made : Who for us men 
and for our salvation came down from heaven, 
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the 
Virgin Mary, and was made Man. 

325 — a. d. — Nicene Creed. 



If the things which evince His humanity 
have afforded thee a pretext for error, let the 
circumstances which attest His Divinity remove 
thy mistake. 

— Gregory Nazianzen, 

329^-389. Bishop of Nazianzus. 

Thou hast conquered, Galilaean ■ (Lt. Vicisti 
Galiloee). 

— Julian the Apostate, 
331-363. Emperor of Rome. 

As the print of the seal on wax is the express 
image of the Seal itself, so Christ is the express 
image — the perfect representation of God. 
— St. Ambrose, 

333-397. Christian Father. 

I have read in Plato and Cicero sayings that 
are very wise and very beautiful; but I never 



30 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

read in either of them : " Come unto me all ye 
that labor and are heavy ladened." 

— Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. 
354-430. 

The angels said, 0, Mary, verily God send- 
eth thee good tidings, that thou shalt bear the 
Word proceeding from himself; his name shall 
be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary; honorable in 
this world and in the world to come, and one 
of those who approach near to the presence of 
God; and shall speak unto men in the cradle, 
and when he is grown up; and he shall be one 
of the righteous. — From the Koran. 

— Mohammed, 
Founder of the Mohammedan Religion* 

570-632. 

As the sun doth daily rise, 
Brightening up the morning skies, 
So to thee with one accord, 
Lift we up our hearts, Lord. 
— Alfred the Great, 
849-901. King of England. 

No voice can sing, no heart can frame, 
!Nor can the memory find, 
A sweeter sound than Jesus' name, 
The Saviour of mankind. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 31 

O, Hope of every contrite heart, 
O, Joy of all the meek, 
To those who ask, how kind thou art ! 
How good to those who seek ! 
— Beenaed of Claievaux, 
1091-1152. French Ecclesiastic. 



Theee has appeared in this our day a man 
of great virtue, named Jesus Christ, who is yet 
living amongst us, and with the Gentiles is 
accepted as a prophet of truth, but his own 
disciples call him the Son of God. He raiseth 
the dead, and cureth all manner of diseases; a 
man of stature somewhat tall and comely, with 
reverent countenance ; such as the beholder may 
both love and fear: his hair is of the color of 
filbert, full ripe, and plain down to his ears, but 
from ears downwards somewhat curled, and 
more orient of color, waving about his shoulders. 
In the midst of his head goeth a seam or parti- 
tion of hair, after the manner of the Nazarites ; 
his forehead very smooth and plain; his face 
and nose and mouth so framed as nothing can 
be reprehended; his beard somewhat thick, 
agreeable to the hair of his head for color, not 
of any great length, but forked in the middle; 
of an innocent and mature look : his eyes grey, 
clear and quick. In reproving he is terrible; 



32 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

in admonishing, courteous and fair spoken, 
pleasant in speech, amidst gravity. It cannot 
be remembered that any hath seen him laugh, 
but many have seen him weep. In proportion 
of body, well shaped and straight : his hands and 
arms most beauteous to behold. In speaking 
very temperate, modest and wise : a man of 
singular virtue, surpassing the children of men. 

PUBLIUS LENTULUS. 

Epistle of the llth Century. 
(Probably spurious.) 

O Jesus Christ, most good, most fair, 
More fragrant than May's flowery air ; 
Who thee within his soul doth hear, 
True cause for joy hath won ! 

But would one have Thee in his heart, 
From all self-will he must depart; 
God's bidding only where thou art 
Must evermore be done. 

— Johannes Tauler, 
Dominican Preacher and Mystic. 
1290-1361. 



I am not a dreamer, but I hold this for cer- 
tain that the image of Christ shall never be ef- 
faced. They have wished to destroy it but it 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 33 

shall be painted again in the hearts of men by 
painters abler than myself. The nation which 
loves Jesus Christ will rejoice thereat, and I 
awakening from the dead, and rising from the 
grave shall thrill with great joy. 

— John Huss, 
1369-1415. Bohemian Reformer. 



All the glory and beauty of Christ are mani- 
fested within, and there he delights to dwell; 
his visits are frequent, his condescension amaz- 
ing, his conversations sweet, his comforts re- 
freshing; and the peace that he brings passeth 
all understanding. 

— Thomas 'A. Kjempis, 

1380-1471. German Mystic. 



What are the saints compared with Christ? 
They are but as dewdrops scattered upon the 
head of the Bridegroom, lost in the glory of his 
hair. 



In his life, Christ is an example, showing us 
how to live : in his death he is a sacrifice, satis- 
fying for our sins: in his resurrection, a con- 



34 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

queror : in his ascension, a king : in his interces- 
sion, a high priest. 

— Martin Luther, 
1483-1546. German Reformer. 

I commend my soul into the hands of God, 
my Creator; hoping and assuredly believing, 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, 
to be made partaker of life everlasting. 
— William Shakespeare. 
The great English Poet and Dramatist. 
(Closing words of his will.) 
1564-1616. 

The best of men 

That e'er wore earth about Him was a Sufferer, 
A soft, meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit; 
The first true gentleman that ever breathed. 

— Thomas Decker, 
1570-1641. English Poet. 

As all the sweetness that are in the flowers of 
the field and in the garden are brought in by 
the bees into the hive, and are there embodied 
in one hive ; so all the attributes of God and the 
sweetness of them all are hived in Christ, in 
whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwells 
bodily. 

— William Bridge, 
1600-1670. English Divine. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 35 

Begotten Son, divine Similitude, 

In whose conspicuous countenance, without 

cloud 
Made visible, the Almighty Father shines, 
Whom else no creature can behold ! 
Transfused, on thee His ample spirit rests. 
— John Milton, 
1608-1674. English Poet. 

He came not in the spirit of Elias, but with 
meekness and gentle insinuations, mild as the 
breath of heaven, not willing to disturb the soft- 
est stalk of a violet. 

— Jeremy Taylor, 

1612-1667. Anglican Divine. 



Jesus Christ is the center of all, and the 
goal to which all tends. 

— Blaise Pascal, 
1623-1662. French Philosopher. 



Your Saviour comes not with gaudy show, 
Nor was his kingdom of the world below ; 
The crown he wore was of the pointed thorn, 
In purple he was crucified, not born. 
— John Dryden, 
1631-1700. English Poet. 



36 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

This is the highest thing which Christ said 
of himself , namely: that He is the temple of 
God, since God chiefly manifested himself in 
Christ; which St. John, that he might express 
it more efficaciously, clothed in the expression 
that " The Word was made flesh." 
— Bakuch Spinoza, 

1632-1677. Dutch Philosopher. 



Every knee must bow to him. The whole 
creation must be in subjection to him, things in 
heaven and things in earth and things under the 
earth : the living and the dead. At the name of 
Jesus all must pay solemn homage. And every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 
Every nation and language shall publicly own 
the universal empire of the exalted Redeemer. 
— Matthew Henry, 
English divine and Commentator. 

1662-1714. 



Majestic sweetness sits enthroned 

Upon the Saviour's brow ; 
His head with radiant glories crowned, 

His lips with grace o'erflow. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 37 

No mortal can with Him compare 

Among the sons of men; 
Fairer is He than all the fair 

That fills the heavenly train. 
— Joseph Stennet, 
1663-1713. English Hymn Writer. 



Join all the glorious names 
Of wisdom, love and power, 
That ever mortals knew, 
Or angels ever bore; 
r All are too mean to speak his worth, 
Too mean to set the Saviour forth. 
— Isaac Watts, 
English Poet and Hymnologist. 
1674-1776. 



The system of religion which Christ pub- 
lished, and his evangelists recorded, is a com- 
plete system to all the purposes of religion, 
natural and revealed. Christianity, as, it 
stands in the gospel, contains not only a com- 
plete, but a very plain system of religion. The 
gospel is in all cases one continued lesson of 
the strictest morality, of justice, of benevolent 
and universal charity. Supposing Christianity 
to be a human invention, it is the most amiable 



38 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

and successful invention that ever was imposed 

on mankind for their good. 

— Henry St. John Bolingbroke, 

English Lord and Noted Infidel. 
1678-1751. 



In Christ we have an example of a quiet and 
peaceful spirit, of becoming modesty and so- 
briety; just, honest, upright and sincere; and 
above all, of a most gracious and benevolent 
temper and behavior ; one who did no wrong, no 
injury to any man; in whose mouth was no 
guile; who went about doing good, not only by 
his ministry, but also in curing all manner of 
diseases among the people. His was a beauti- 
ful picture of human nature in its native purity 
and simplicity; and showed, at once, what ex- 
cellent creatures men would be under the influ- 
ence and power of the Gospel which he preached 
unto them. 

— Thomas Chubb, 

1679-1746. English Infidel 



He is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah 
the Lord, Creator from eternity, Saviour in 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 39 

time and Keformer to eternity, who is at once 
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 
— Emanuel Swedenborg, 
1688-1772. Swedish Philosopher. 

Jesus taught with a degree of light to which 
that of Nature is darkness. 

— Joseph Butxek, 
Author of Analogy of Religion. 
1692-1752. 

When we are delighted with flowery 
meadows, and gentle breezes, we may consider 
that we see only the emanations of the sweet 
benevolence of Jesus. When we behold the 
fragrant rose and lily, we see his love and pur- 
ity; so too, the green trees and singing of the 
birds are the emanations of his infinite joy and 
benignity. 

— Jonathan Edwards, 

1703-1758. American Divine. 



The inspired writers give Him all the titles 
of the Most High God. They call him over 
and over by the uncommunicable name Je- 
hovah, never given to any creature. They 
ascribe to him all the attributes and all the 
works of God. So that we need not scruple to 



40 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

pronounce him God of God, Light of Light, 
very God of very God ; in glory equal with the 
Father, in majesty co-eternal. 

— John Wesley, 
1703-1791. Founder of Methodism. 



As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of 
whom, you particularly desire, I think the sys- 
tem of morals, and his religion, as he left them 
to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely 
to see. 

— Benjamin Franklin, 

1706-1790. American Statesman. 



Jesus the name high over all, 
In hell, or earth, or sky, 

Angels and men before it fall, 
And devils fear and fly. 



Happy, if with my latest breath 
I may but gasp his name ; 

Preach him to all and cry in death, 
" Behold, behold the lamb!" 
— Charles Wesley, 



1708-1788 



English Hymnwriter. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 41 

How petty are the books of trie philosophers 
with all their pomp, compared with the Gos- 
pels! Can he whose life they tell be Himself 
no more than a man? Is there anything in 
his character, of the enthusiast or the ambitious 
sectary ? ' What sweetness, what purity in His 
ways, what touching grace in his teachings! 
What loftiness in His maxims^ what profound 
wisdom in His words. What an empire over 
His passions ! Where is the man, where is the 
sage, who knows how to act, to suffer, and to 
die, without weakness and without display ? If 
the death of Socrates be that of a sage, the life 
and death of Jesus are those of a God. 
— Jean Jacques Rosseau, 

1712-1778. French Deist and Author. 

I defy you all — as many as are here — to 
prepare a tale so simple and at the same time 
so sublime and touching as the tale of the pas- 
sion and death of Jesus Christ; which pro- 
duces the same effect, which makes an impres- 
sion so strong and generally felt, and whose in- 
fluence will be the same after so many cen- 
turies. 

— Denis Diderot, 

1713-1784. French Encyclopedist. 

{At a free-thinkers gathering in d'Holbach's 
house. ) 



42 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Worship, honor, power and blessing, 

Christ is worthy to receive ; 
Loudest praises without ceasing 

Meet it is for us to give. 
Help, ye bright angelic Spirits! 

Bring your sweetest, noblest lays, 
Help to sing Jesus' merits, 

Help to chant Immanuel's praise. 

— John Bakewell, Hymn Writer. 
1721-1819. 



One of those names, before which the heavens 
bow, is sacred, while the other is only that of 
a poor scholar endeavoring to explain, to the 
best of his ability, the teachings of his Master. 
— Immanuel Kant, 
German Metaphysician and 
1724-1804. Philosopher. 

(When one instituted a comparison 
between his name and Christ's.) 



The well-spring of whatever is best and pur- 
est in human life. The first trustworthy and 
practical teacher of the Immortality of the 
Soul. 

GOTTHOLD LESSING, 

1729-1781. German Author. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 45 

THOU 

Whom soft-eyed Pity led down from Heaven 
To bleed for man, to teach him how to live, 
And oh ! still harder lesson, how to die ! 
— Beilby Porteus, 

Bishop of the English Church, 
1731-1808. 



I now make it my earnest prayer that God 
would have you and the State over which you 
preside in his holy protection; and that he 
would most graciously be pleased to dispose us 
all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean 
ourselves with charity, humility, and pacific 
temper of mind, which were the characteris- 
tics of the Divine Author of our blessed re- 
ligion; without a humble recognition of whose 
example, in these things, we can never hope to 
be a happy nation. 

— George Washington, 
First President of the United States. 

1732-1799. 

(In a letter to the Governor of one of the 
States. ) 



The Christian religion, as I understand it, 
is the brightness of the glory and the express 



44 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Portrait of trie Character of the eternal, self- 
existent, independent, benevolent, all-power- 
ful, and all-merciful Creator, Preserver, and 
Father of the universe, the first good, the first 
perfect, and the first fair. It will last as long 
as the world. Neither savage nor civilized 
man, without a revelation could have discov- 
ered it. 

— John Adams, 
Second President of the United States. 
1735-1826. 



He was a virtuous and amiable man. The 
morality that he preached and practiced was of 
the most benevolent kind: and though similar 
systems of morality had been preached by Con- 
fucius and by some of the Greek philosophers, 
many ages before; by the Quakers since; and 
by many good men in all ages, it has not been 
exceeded by any. 

— Thomas Paine, 
American Deistical Writer. 

1737-1809. 



I have heard it said that Deists claimed me. 
The thought pained me more than the appella- 
tion of Tory; for I consider religion of in- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 45 

finitely higher importance than politics, and I 
find much cause to reproach myself, that I have 
lived so long, and given no decided proof of 
my being a Christian. 

— Patrick Henry, 
American Patriot and Statesman. 
1739-1799. 



A more beautiful and precious morsel of 
ethics I have never seen: it is a document in 
proof that I am a real Christian; that is to 
say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus. 
— Thomas Jefferson, 
Third President of the United States. 
1743-1826. 

(Written in a booh in which he had made a 
collection of the sayings of Jesus. ) 



No one ever loved as Christ did, nor did 
anything so great and good as the Bible tells 
us of Him ever enter into the heart of man. 
It is a holy form that rises before the poor 
pilgrim like a star in the night, and satisfies 
his inmost cravings, his most secret yearnings 
and hopes. 

— Matthias Claudius, 

1743-1815. German Poet. 



46 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Jesus Christ is in the noblest and most per- 
fect sense the realized ideal of humanity. 

— Johann Gottfried von Herder, 
1744-1803. German Philosopher. 

I esteem the Gospels to be thoroughly gen- 
uine, for there shines forth from them the re- 
flected splendor of a sublimity, proceeding from 
the person of Jesus Christ, of so divine a kind 
as only the divine could ever have manifested 
on earth. 

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 
1749-1832. German Author. 

A humble form the Godhead wore, 
The pains of poverty He bore, 
To gaudy pomp unknown: 
Tho' in a human walk He trod 
Still was the Man Almighty God 
In glory all His own. 

— Thomas Chatterton, 
1752-1770. An English Poet, 

Christ is the key to the history of the world. 
Not only does all harmonize with the mission 
of Christ, but all is subordinate to it. 
— John von Muller, 

1752-1809. Swiss Historian. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 47 

Gentlemen, I refer you to a historical fact 
which may give you some light as to the best 
way to establish a new religion in the world. 
When Christ undertook to establish a new re- 
ligion, he was crucified, he lay in the grave 
three days, he rose again and ascended into 
heaven. If you would succeed, I advise you to 
do the same. 

— Charles M. Talleyrand, 

1754-1838. French Statesman. 

(When a delegation of philanthropists con~ 
suited him as to the best way to establish a new 
religion.) 



I should be ashamed to acknowledge him as 
my Saviour if I could comprehend him — he 
would be no greater than myself. Such is my 
sense of sin, and consciousness of my inability 
to save myself, that I feel I need a superhuman 
Saviour — one so great and glorious that I can- 
not comprehend him. 

— Noah Webster, 

1758-1843. American Lexicographer. 



Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme 
How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed, 



48 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

How He who bore in heaven the second name 
Had not on earth whereon to lay His head. 
— Robert Burns, Scotch Poet. 
1759-1796. 



The life of Christ concerns Him who, being 
the holiest among the mighty, and the mightiest 
among the holy, lifted with his pierced hand 
empires off their hinges and turned the stream 
of centuries out of its channel, and still gov- 
erns the ages. 

— Jean Paul Richter, 
1763-1825. German Author. 



The combination of these qualities, justice 
and fidelity, so essential to the heroic character ; 
with those of meekness, lowliness of heart, and 
brotherly love, is what constitutes that moral 
perfection of which Christ gave an example in 
his own life, and to which he commended his 
disciples to aspire. . . . 

Jesus Christ came into the world to preach 
repentance and remission of sins, to proclaim 
glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, 
good will to man ; and finally, to bring life and 
immortality to light in the gospel ; and all this 



t 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 49 

is clear, if we consider the Bible as a divine 
revelation. 

— John Quincy Adams, 
Sixth President of the United States. 

1767-1848. 



Ah ! if the purest morality, and the most ten- 
der heart — if a life spent in removing the 
errors, and relieving the sufferings of mankind, 
are attributes of the divinity, who can deny 
that Jesus Christ is God ? 

— Francois Chateaubriand. 

1768-1848. 



I stand still before Christ as before a riddle, 
in the presence of which all my philosophical 
and historical criticism is silent. I know not 
what to call that being to which in the entire 
history of humanity I find no analogy. But I 
find that the whole history of humanity before 
Him and after Him points to Him, and in Him 
finds its centre and its solution. His whole 
conduct, His deeds, His addresses, have a su- 
pernatural character, being altogether inexplic- 
able from human relations and human means. 
I feel that there is something more than man, 



50 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

that he must be a divine ambassador. But how 
He is it I do not undertake to say. 

— Friedrich Daniel Ernst 

ScHLEIERMACHER, 

German Theologian and Critic. 
1768-1829. 

Jesus Christ was more than man. Alex- 
ander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded 
great empires, but upon what did the creations 
of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus 
alone founded His empire upon love, and to 
this very day millions would die for Him, 

Everything in Christ astonishes me. His 
spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. 
His ideas and his sentiments, the truths which 
he announces, his manner of convincing, are 
not explained either by human observation, or 
the nature of things. His birth and the his- 
tory of his life ; the profundity of his doctrine, 
which grapples the mightiest difficulties, and 
which is of those difficulties the most admirable 
solution; his gospel; his apparition; his em- 
pire; his march across the ages and the realms 
— everything is for me a prodigy, a mystery in- 
solvable, which plunges me into a revery from 
which I cannot escape — a mystery which is 
there before my eyes, a mystery which I can- 




Heinrich Hofmann 
THE SON OF MAN 

Engraved from the Fatnout Painting of " Christ and the Rich Young Ruler * 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 51 

not deny nor explain. Here I see nothing hu- 
man. The nearer I approach, the more care- 
fully I examine. Everything is above me. 
Everything remains grand, — of a grandeur 
which overpowers. His religion is a revelation 
from an Intelligence which certainly is not that 
of man. 

— Napoleon I, 
1768-1821. Emperor of France. 



That person (Christ) in whose self -conscious- 
ness the unity of the Divine and human first 
came forth, and with an energy that, in the 
whole course of his life and character, dimin- 
ished to the very lowest degree all limitation of 
this unity. In this respect he stands alone and 
unequaled in the world's history. 

— George Wilhelm Hegel, 

1770-1831. German Philosopher. 



Hosanna! be the children's song, 
To Christ the children's King; 
His praise, to whom our souls belong, 
Let all the children sing. 

— James Montgomery. 
Scottish Poet and Hymn Writer. 
1771-1854. 



52 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

The greatest of all blessings, and the most 
ennobling of all privileges, is to be indeed a 
Christian. 

— Samuel T. Coleridge, 

1772-1834. English Poet 



When I read again the story of his life and 
contemplate his teachings, it is as though I 
were lifted from the valley to the broad table- 
land, and from thence to successive mountain 
heights, until I stand at last upon the highest 
peak above the clouds, where all is clear and 
radiant with sunlight; and it has been during 
these mountaintop experiences that I have 
seemed to behold his face and have attempted 
to paint his likeness. 

— Ernest T. Hofmann, 

1776-1822. A noted German Painter. 



I always have had, and alwavs shall have a 
profound regard for Christianity, the religion 
of my fathers, for its rise, its usages and its ob- 
servances. 

— Henry Clay, 

1777-1852. American Statesman. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 53 

This only I know, that there is salvation in 
no other than in the name of Jesus Christ the 
Crucified, and that nothing loftier offers itself 
to humanity than the God-manhood realized in 
Him. Jesus is the blameless and sinless one. 

— Wilhelm Martin De Witte, 
1780-1849. German Theologian. 

The character of Jesus is wholly inexplicable 
on human principles. 

I know of no sincere enduring good but the 
moral excellency which shines forth in Jesus 
Christ. 

What is it that constitutes Christ's claim to 
love and respect? It is the moral beauty and 
grandeur of his character. 

— William Ellery Channing, 
1780-1842. Unitarian Divine. 



I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. 
The miracles which he wrought establish in my 
mind, his personal authority, and render it 
proper for me to believe whatever he asserts. 
I believe, therefore, all his declarations, as well 
when he declares himself to be the Son of God, 
as when he declares any other proposition. And 



54 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

I believe there is no other way of Salvation 
than through the merits of his atonement. 
— Daniel Webster, 

American Statesman and Orator. 

1782-1852. 



Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, 
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid ; 

Star of the East, the horizon adorning, 
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. 

Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining ; 

Low lies his head with beasts of the stall ; 
Angels adore him, in slumber reclining, 

Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all. 
— Reginald Heber, 

1783-1826. English Bishop of Calcutta. 

If ever man was God or God man, Jesus 
Christ was both. 

— Lord Byron, English Poet. 

1788-1824. 



The name of Christ — the one great word — 
well worth all the languages in earth or heaven. 

— Samuel Bailey, 
1791-1880. English Philosopher. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 55 

The being who has influenced in the most re- 
markable manner the opinions and fortunes of 
the human species is Jesus Christ. At this 
day his name is connected with the devotional 
feelings of 200,000,000 of the human race. 
The institutions of the most civilized portions 
of the globe derive their authority from the 
sanction of his doctrines. 

— Percy B. Shelley, 

1792-1822. English Poet 

In my view of the life, the teachings, the 
labors, and the sufferings of the blessed Jesus, 
there can be no admiration too profound; no 
love of which the human heart is capable too 
warm; no gratitude too earnest and deep of 
which he is justly the object. 

Take away the blessings of the advent of His 
life and the blessings purchased by His death, 
in what an abyss of guilt would man have been 
left ! It would seem to be blotting the sun out 
of the heavens — to leave our system in chaos, 
frost and darkness. 

— William Cullen Bryant, 

1794-1878. American Poet 



Jesus of Nazareth our divinist symbol! 
Higher has the human thought not reached; a 



56 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

symbol of quiet perennial, infinite character, 
whose significance will ever demand to be anew 
inquired into, and anew made manifest. 

The greatest of all heroes is one whom we do 
not name here. Let sacred silence meditate 
that sacred truth. 

— Thomas Carlyle, 

1795-1881. British Author. 



City libraries tell us of the reign of Jesus 
Christ but City Streets tells us of the reign of 
Satan. 

— Horace Mann, 

1796-1859. American Educator. 



Till the end of time all the sensible will bow 
low before this Jesus of Nazareth, and will 
humbly acknowledge the exceeding glory of this 
great phenomenon. His followers are nations 
and generations. 

— Immanuel H. Fichte, 
German Philosopher and Sceptic. 
1797-1878, 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 57 

May all the Alumni of this Institution 
(Cathedral College) find this day so blest to 
them that the knowledge of God and His only- 
begotten Son Jesus Christ as the only source 
of salvation, may advance to them. 

— William I, 

1797-1888. Emperor of Germany. 



Since ninety-nine hundredths of all Chris- 
tians, in all ages, have rendered divine wor- 
ship to Christ, it follows then that he is either 
entitled to receive worship, or he has, as a re- 
ligious teacher, so failed in his mission as to 
lead nearly all his pupils into the idolatry of 
Creature worship. 

— Thomas Binney, 
English Theological Author. 

1798-1808. 



Lion of Judah, hail ! 
And let thy name prevail 

From age to age: 
Lord of the rolling years 
Claim for thine own the spheres, 
For thou hast bought with tears 

Thy heritage. 
1800-1893. Matthew Bridges. 



58 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

I find the name of Jesus Christ written on 
the top of every page of modern history. 
— George Bancroft, 
1800-1891. American Historian. 



It was before Deity embodied in human form 
walking among men, partaking of their infirm- 
ities, leaning on their bosoms, weeping over 
their graves, slumbering in the manger, bleed- 
ing on the cross ; that the prejudices of the syna- 
gogue and the doubts of the academy, the fasces 
of the victor and the swords of thirty legions 
were humbled in dust. 

— Thomas B. Macaulay, 

English Essayist and Historian. 

1800-1859. ' 

The greatest monuments of art shelter His 
sacred images ; the most magnificent ceremonies 
assemble the people under the influence of His 
name; poetry, music, painting, sculpture, ex- 
haust their resources to proclaim His glory, and 
to offer Him incense worthy of the adoration 
which ages have consecrated to Him. And yet 
upon what throne do they adore Him? Upon 
a Cross! 

— Pere Lacordaire, 
1802-1861. A French pulpit orator. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 59 

The unique impression of Jesus upon man- 
kind — whose name is not so much written as 
ploughed into the history of the world — is 
proof of the subtle virtue of this infusion. 
Jesus belonged to the race of prophets. He 
saw with open eye the mystery of the soul. 
One man was true to what is in you and me. 
He, as I think, is the only soul in history who 
has appreciated the worth of man. 

— Ralph Waldo Emeeson, 
American Essayist and Philosopher. 

1803-1882. 



The babe of Bethlehem, whose words were so 
few, whose brief life was so soon ended, and 
whose sacrificial death upon the cross was so 
wonderful, though dead, still he lives and 
reigns in this world ; — a monarch more influ- 
ential than any other, or all other sovereigns 
upon the globe. 

— John S. C. Abbott, 

1805-1877. American Historian. 



The pupil of Moses may ask himself whether 
all the princes of the House of David have 
done so much for Jews as that Prince who 
was crucified. . . . 



60 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Had it not been for Him, the Jews would 
have been comparatively unknown, or known 
only as a high Oriental Caste which had lost its 
country. Has not He made their history the 
most famous history in the world. 

The wildest dreams of their Rabbis have been 
far exceeded. Has not Jesus conquered Eu- 
ope and changed its name to Christendom? 
All countries that refuse the cross wilt, and the 
time will come when the countless myriads of 
America and Australia will find music in the 
Songs of Zion, and solace in the parables of 
Galilee. 

— Benjamin Disraeli, (a jew), 

1805-1881. Earl of Beacons field. 



Jesus Christ must be called the regenerator 
of the human race. The world has changed 
and that change is historically traceable to 
Christ. 



Not more clearly does the worship of the 
saintly soul, breathing through its windows 
opened to the midnight, betray the secrets of its 
affections, than the mind of Jesus of Nazareth 
reveals the perfect thought and inmost love of 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 61 

the all-ruling God. Were he the only born — 
the solitary self-revelation of the created spirit, 
He should not more surely open the mind of 
heaven, being the Logos — the apprehensible 
nature of God — which long unuttered to the 
world, and abiding in the beginning with Him, 
has now come forth and dwelt among us, full 
of grace and truth. 

— James Martineau, 
1805 — 1900. Unitarian Divine. 



Jesus stood and stands alone, Supreme, over 
all other great religious reformers in every- 
thing that concerns the heart and affections. 
— Giuseppe Mazzini, 

1805-1872. Italian Patriot 



About the life and sayings of Jesus Christ 
there is a stamp of personal originality, com- 
bined with profundity of insight, which must 
place the Prophet of Nazareth, even in the esti- 
mation of those who have no belief in his in- 
spiration, in the very first rank of the men of 
sublime genius of whom our species can boast. 
When this prominent genius is combined with 
the qualities of probably the greatest moral re- 



62 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

former, and martyr to that mission, whoever 
existed upon earth, religion cannot be said to 
have made a bad choice in fixing upon this man 
as the ideal representative and guide of human- 
ity; nor even now would it be easy, even for 
an unbeliever, to find a better translation of 
the rule of virtue from the abstract to the con- 
crete, than to endeavor so to live that Christ 
would approve our life. When to this we add, 
that, to the conception of the rational sceptic, 
it remains a possibility that Christ actually was 
what he supposed Himself to be. 
— John Stuart Mill, 

English Author and Sceptic. 
1806-1873. 



O, Who shall paint him? Let the sweetest 

tone 
That ever trembled on the harps of heaven 
Be discord; let the chanting seraphim 
Whose anthem is Eternity be dumb; 
For praise and wonder, adoration, all 
Melt into muteness ere they soar to thee, 
The sole perfection! Theme of countless 

worlds ! 

— Robert Montgomery, 
1807-1855. English Poet 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 63 

I shall be disappointed, sir. I shall fail in 
the leading object that brought me here unless 
these young men become real Christians. I 
wish you and others of your sacred profession 
to do all you can to accomplish this result. 
— Gen'l Robert E. Lee, 

1807-1870. American Soldier. 

{To a clergyman of Lexington, Virginia, 
when he became President of Washington Col- 
lege.) 



In the beginning was the Word : 
Athwart the Chaos — night, 

It gleamed with quick creative power 
And there was life and light. 

Thy Word, O God ! is living yet, 
Amid earth's restless strife, 

"New harmony creating still 
And ever higher life. 

O Word that broke the stillness first, 

Sound on ! and never cease 
Till all earth's darkness be made light, 

And all her discord peace. 

Till selfish passion, strife and wrong, 
Thy summons shall have heard, 



64* Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

And thy creation be complete, 
O thou Eternal Word. 
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 
1807-1882. 



I love and venerate the religion of Christ, 
because Christ came into the world to deliver 
humanity from slavery, for which God had not 
created it. 

— Giuseppe Garibaldi, 

1807-1882. Italian Patriot. 



My ground of hope for myself and for hu- 
manity is in that divine fullness of love which 
was manifested in the life, teaching and sacri- 
fice of Christ. In the infinite mercy of God 
so revealed and not in any worth or merit of 
our nature, I humbly, yet very hopefully trust. 



O, Lord, and Master of us all 
What e'er our name or sign 
We own thy sway, we hear thy call, 
We test our lives by thine. 

— John Greenleaf Whittier. 
1808-1892. American Poet 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 65 

Christ stands alone, and unapproached in the 
world's history. He remains the highest model 
of religion within the reach of our thought. 
!No perfect piety is possible without his pres- 
ence in the heart. 

— ■. David Frederich Strauss, 
German Rationalistic Theologian. 
1808-1874. 



'Twas the hour when One in Sion 
Hung for love's sake on the cross — 
When His brow was chill with dying, 
And His soul was faint with loss ; 
When His priestly blood dropped downward, 
And His kingly eyes looked throneward — 

Then Pan was dead. 
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 
1809-1861. English Poetess. 



And so the Word had breath, and wrought 
With human hands the creed of Creeds 
In lovliness of perfect deeds, 
More strong than all poetic thought. 



66 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Thou seemest human and divine, 
The highest, holiest, manhood thou, 
Our wills are ours, we know not how, 
Our wills are ours to make them thine. 

— Alfred Tennyson, 
1809-1892. English Poet Laureate. 



All that I think, all that I hope, all that I 
write and all that I live for is based upon the 
divinity of Jesus Christ; the one central joy 
of our poor wayward race. 

— William E. Gladstone, 

1809-1898. British Statesman. 



Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity and a 
firm reliance on Him, who has never forsaken 
this favored land, are still competent to ad- 
just in the best way all our present difficulty. 

Inaugural Address. 



If what you have told me is really a correct 
view of this great subject, I think I can say 
with sincerity, that I hope I am a Christian; 
and will further add, that it has been my in- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 67 

tention for some time, at a suitable opportunity 
to make a public religious profession. 

(Conversation with a lady connected with the 
Christian Commission. ) 

— Abraham Lincoln", 

1809-1865. 



This we may say, that the fullness of life in 
the soul of Jesus has preceded the fullness of 
life in his religion. If Christianity does jus- 
tice to the different sides of human nature and 
meets the various needs of the soul, it is be- 
cause the same all-sided development was in the 
life of Jesus himself. He united love to God 
with love to man, courage and caution, perfect 
freedom of forms and reverence for the sub- 
stance in all forms, hatred for sin and love for 
the sinner. All that is essential in Christianity 
was in Jesus Christ. 

— James Freeman Clark, 
American Author and Unitarian Divme. 

1810-1888. 



What had the life of Jesus been to us, if we 
had only the record of his sermons, without the 
record of his going about doing good ? I think 



68 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

the everyday life of Jesus touches the human 
heart more than the great truths which he ut- 
tered. 

— Matthew Simpson, 

Bishop of the Methodist 
1810-1884. Episcopal Church. 



Today the question that is stirring men's 
hearts to their very depths is, " Who is this 
Jesus Christ \ " His life is becoming to us a 
new life, as if we had never seen a word of it. 
There is round about us an influence so strange, 
so penetrating, so subtle, yet so mighty, that 
we are obliged to ask the great heaving world 
of time to be silent for a while, that we may 
see just what we are and where we are. That 
influence is the life of Jesus. We cannot get 
clear of it: we hear it in the tones of joy; we 
feel it stealing across the darkness of sorrow; 
we see it where we least expect it. Even men 
who have travelled farthest from it seem only 
to have come around to it again ; and while they 
have been undervaluing the inner work of Jesus 
Christ, they have actually been living on the 
virtues which came out of His garment's hem. 

Christ unites in Himself the sublimest pre- 
cepts and divinest practices. He pours out a 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 69 

doctrine beautiful as the light, sublime as 
heaven, and true as God. 

— Theodore Parker, 
American Theologian and Scholar. 
1810-1860. 



What artist could depict the character of 
Christ, if there were no reality from which to 
paint ? 

— Noah Porter, American Educator. 

1811-1892. 



I believe that Christ lived when and as the 
Gospel says; that he was more than man — 
namely, above all men who had as yet lived — 
and yet less than God; full of the strongest 
sense and knowledge, and of virtue superior 
to any which we call Koman or Grecian or 
Stoic, and which we best denote when, borrow- 
ing his name, we call it Christian. I pray you 
not to believe that I am insensible to the good- 
ness and greatness of his character. My idea 
of human nature is exalted when I think that 
such a being lived and went as man among men. 
— Charles Sumner, 

1811-1874. American Statesman. 



70 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Gladness be with thee, Helper of the World ! 
I think this is the authentic sign and seal 
Of Godship, that it ever waxes glad, 
And more glad, until gladness blossoms, bursts 
And recommence at sorrow. 



Oh, thou pale form 

Oft have I stood by thee — 

Have I been keeping lonely watch with thee 

In the damp night by weeping Olivet; 

Or leaning on thy bosom, — 

Or dying with thee on the Holy Cross, 

Or witnessing thy bursting from the tomb. 

No one ever plucked 
A rag, even, from the body of the Lord, 
To wear and mock with, but despite himself 
He looked the greater and was the better. 

— Robert Browning, English Poet. 
1812-1889. 



I now most solemnly impress upon you the 
truth and beauty of the Christian religion as it 
came from Christ himself, and the impossibility 
of going far wrong if you humbly but heartily 
respect it. — In a letter to his son. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 71 

I commit my soul to the mercy of God, 
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
and I exhort my dear children humbly to try 
to guide themselves by the teachings of the New 
Testament. 

— Charles Dickens, in his will. 

1812-1870. 



You cannot take in such a nature as Christ's 
with all its relations to heaven above and to the 
earth beneath, all its social and aesthetic quali- 
ties, and all its divine elements, not simply that 
they elude your grasp, running out beyond 
analysis and research, but because they are so 
combined, so changeable, so constantly coming 
and going, with various phases and in various 
ways, that no man can give the whole of it. 
There is always more; and when that is ex- 
pressed there is still more. 



If Christ be not Divine, every impulse of 
the Christian world falls to a lower octave, and 
light and love and hope decline. 

— Henry Ward Beecher, 

1813-1887. American Pulpit Orator. 



7£ Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

That Jesus, surrounded as he was, could 
have promulgated a system of morals embody- 
ing all that is most valuable in the prior life of 
the world, and to which nineteen centuries of 
civilization have not been able to add a thought 
or impart an ornament, is a fact not to be ex- 
plained by any ridicule. 

— William Benjamin Carpenter, 

1813-1885. English Physiologist 



The founder of the Christian Religion was 
not wise; He was divine. To believe in Him 
is to imitate Him and to seek union with Him. 

• •••••• 

In consequence of His atoning death, -every- 
thing which lives and breathes may know itself 
redeemed. 

— Eichard Wagner, 

1813-1883. German Poet and Author. 



If I were not a Christian I would not serve 
the King another hour. Did I not obey God 
and count upon him, I should certainly take 
no account of earthly masters. Were I not a 
Christian, did I not stand upon the miraculous 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 73 

basis of religion, you would never have pos- 
sessed a Federal Chancellor in my person. 
— Prince Otto von Bismark, 
1815-1898. German Statesman, 



As the material evolution of nature found its 
significance in man, so must humanity enter 
immediately upon a higher spiritual evolution 
to find its goal and completion, and its signifi- 
cance in the ideal man — the Divine Man. 
— John LeConte, American Physicist. 

1818-1891. 



A personal experience of fifty years gives 
me an absolute knowledge of the saving, up- 
lifting power of Jesus. His word has a power 
to rebuke, to cleanse, to comfort, to uphold, to 
enlighten me, incomparably greater than that 
of any other word which has ever reached me. 
The nearer I keep to him, and the more unre- 
servedly I trust in him, so much the more ten- 
derly do I feel the love of God redeeming, 
guiding and sanctifying me. 

— Thomas H. Hill, 
American Clergyman and Educator. 

1818-1891. 



74 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

There is evidence enough for me merely in 
the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables of 
our Lord, considered simply as uttered there 
and then, and by him whose whole life, char- 
acter, and death, exemplified all that he taught, 
and showed that in him the fulness of the God- 
head was incarnate ; for he spake as never man 
spake. 

— Francis Bowen, 

1818-1909. American Educator. 



Eighteen hundred years have passed away 
since Jesus Christ appeared upon this earth to 
redeem a fallen race from sin and death, and 
to open a never ceasing fountain of righteous- 
ness and life. The noblest and best of men 
under every clime hold him not only in the 
purest affection and the profoundest gratitude, 
but in divine adoration and worship. 

His name is above every name that can be 
named in heaven or on earth, and the only one 
whereby the sinner can be saved. He is Im- 
manuel, God with us, the eternal Word become 
flesh ; very God and very man in the undivided 
person ; the author of a new creation ; the Way, 
the Truth and the Life, the Prophet, the Priest, 
the King of a regenerated humanity, the Saviour 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 75 

of the world. Blessed is he who from the heart 
believes that Jesus is the Son of God and the 
foundation of Salvation. 

— Philip Schaff, 
Swiss theologian and Author in America, 
1819-1893. 



In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born 

across the sea, 
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you 

and me; 

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make 

men free, 
While God is marching on. 

— Julia Ward Howe, 
1819-1910. American Poet. 



In order to render communion with Him pos- 
sible, the Deity has stooped from His throne 
and has not only in the person of the son, taken 
upon Him the veil of our human flesh, but, in 
the person of the Father, taken upon Him the 
veil of our human thoughts and permitted us 
by His own spoken authority to conceive Him 



76 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

simply and clearly as a living Father and 
friend. 

— John Ruskin, English Author. 
1819-1900. 



His character has passed the test of the ma- 
licious assaults of two thousand years, and 
stands today before the world as faultless in 
every part. It comprises all paradoxes; more 
tender and gentle than that of a woman, and 
yet as rugged as a mountain. Stern as an 
avenger, and inflexible as fate; he was gentle 
but not weak, and always strong and grand ; he 
made no clamor, but moved among people like 
a gentle current; yet wherever he went he 
stirred and agitated human society to its depths ; 
he dealt in symbols of eternal judgment, but 
they came from his lips so tenderly as to move 
his hearers to tears ; he was gently terrible ; he 
was a revelation of grand and rugged manhood ; 
and something nobler and deeper, something 
higher and grander, than the world. His name 
stands as the synonym of God on earth. 
— Randolph S. Foster, 

Bishop of the Methodist 

1820-1903. Episcopal Church. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 77 

What a friend we have in Jesus, 

All our sins and griefs to bear ! 
What a privilege to carry 

Everything to God in prayer ! 
O what peace we often forfeit, 

what needless pain we bear, 
All because we do not carry 

Everything to God in prayer ! 

Are we weak and heavy laden, 

Cumbered with a load of care ? — 
Precious Saviour, still our refuge, — 

Take it to the Lord in prayer. 
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? 

Take it to the Lord in prayer ; 
In his arms he'll take and shield thee, 

Thou wilt find a solace there. 

— Joseph Sckiven, 

1820-1886. Hymn Writer. 



Find us a better answer to the questionings 
of our spirits than Christ has furnished! 
Shew us a better ideal of manhood than he has 
given ! Bring us a better testimony to the life 
beyond the grave than he has brought. For 
four thousand years the world tried in vain to 
return to God, and now that he has come him- 



78 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

self to be the way, we will not give him up again 
for any negation. 

■ — William Taylor, 
Missionary Bishop of the 
1821-1902. Methodist Church, 



Christ came to reveal what righteousness 
really is, for nothing will do except righteous- 
ness, and no other conception of righteousness 
will do except Christ's conception of it — his 
method and secret. 

— Matthew Arnold, 
1822-1888. English Poet Essayed. 

I am no infidel. I was educated by pious 
Grandparents to a professed belief in Chris- 
tianity, and taught to reverence holy things. 
I have never fallen into disbelief. The Chris- 
tian gentleman is the noblest and loveliest char- 
acter on earth, for which I entertain moreover 
the highest respect and love. 

— Oliver P. Morton, 
1823-1877. Governor of Indiana. 

There is no religion in the whole world which 
in simplicity, in purity of purpose, in charity 
and true humanity, comes near to that religion 









Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 79 

which Christ taught to his disciples. How 
little was taught by Christ and yet that is 
enough and every addition is of evil. Love 
God, love men — that is the whole law and the 
prophets — not the Creeds and the Catechisms, 
Articles and endless theological discussions. 

Christ's teaching is plainly that as he is the 
son of God so we are his brothers. 

— F. Max Mueeer, 

1823-1900. German Philologist 

Whatever may be the surprises of the future, 
Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship 
will grow young without ceasing ; his legend will 
call forth tears without end ; his sufferings will 
melt the noblest hearts ; all ages will proclaim 
that among the sons of Men there is none born 
greater than Jesus. 

Jesus is a thousand times more living, a thou- 
sand times more loved, than he was in his short 
passage through life. He presides still day by 
day over the destiny of the world . He started 
us in a new direction and in that direction we 
still move. 

His beauty is eternal; His kingdom shall 
have no end. 

— Joseph Ernest Renan, 

1823-1892. French Author and Critic. 



80 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

" He, who from the Father forth was sent, 
Came the true Light, light to our hearts to 

bring ; 
The Word of God, — « the telling of His thought ; 
The Light of God, — the making visible ; 
The far-transcending glory brought 
In human form with man to dwell ; 
The dazzling gone — the power not less 
To show, irradiate, and bless ; 
The gathering of the primal rays divine, 
In forming Chaos to a pure sunshine ! " 
— George Macdokajud, 
1824-1905. Scotch Moralist and Poet. 



The chosen of God, His image, His darling, 
His world-guide, and world-shaper in the his- 
tory of mankind. 

— Theodore Keim, 

1825-1879. German Theologian. 

Nothing human is seen disproportionately in 
Christ, and nothing which belongs to human 
perfection fails to find a place in Him. This 
universality of Christ's character is no specula- 
tive fancy of the scholar. 

— Brooke Foss Wescott, 
English Bishop and Bible Scholar. 
1825-1901. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 81 

The cross is the center of the world's history : 
the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of 
our Lord are the pivot round which all the 
events of the ages revolve, the testimony of 
Christ was the spirit of prophecy, and the 
growing power of Jesus in history. 
— Alexander Maclaren, 

1826-1910. English Baptist Preacher. 



After six years given to the impartial inves* 
tigation of Christianity, as to its truth or falsity, 
I have come to the deliberate conclusion that 
Jesus Christ was the Messiah of the Jews, the 
Saviour of the world, and my personal Saviour. 
— Lew Wallace, 
American General and Author. 
1827-1905. 



For thirty-five years of my life, I was, in the 
proper acceptance of the word a nihilist — not 
a revolutionary socialist, but a man who believed 
nothing. Five years ago my faith came to me. 
I believed in the doctrines of Jesus, and my 
whole life underwent a sudden transformation. 
. . . Life and death ceased to be evil; instead 
of despair I tasted joy and happiness that 



82 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

death could not take away. Will anyone, 
then, be offended if I tell the story of how all 
this came about. 

— Count Lyoff Leo Tolstoi, 

A Russian Novelist, 
In preface to " My Religion" 
1828-1910. 



Jesus of Nazareth is the universal Homo, 
the essential Vir, the Son of human nature, 
the blending in himself of all races, ages, sexes, 
capacities, temperaments, Jesus is the arche- 
typal man, the ideal hero, the consummate in- 
carnation, the symbol of perfected human 
nature, the sum total of unfolded, fulfilled hu- 
manity, the Son of mankind. 

— George Dana Boardman, 

1828-1913. Baptist Divine. 

Christ in subsequent history is more mar- 
velous than Christ in Galilee. 

— George Lorimer, 
1828-1904. American Baptist Divine. 

But detach Christianity from Christ, and it 
vanishes before your eyes into intellectual va- 
pour. For it is of the essence of Christianity 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 83 

that, day by day, hour by hour, the Christian 
should live in conscious, felt, sustained relation- 
ship to the Ever-living Author of his creed and 
of his life. Christianity is non-existent apart 
from Christ; it centres in Christ; it radiates, 
now as at the first, from Christ. It is not a 
mere doctrine bequeathed by Him to a world 
with which He has ceased to have dealings; it 
perishes outright when men attempt to ab- 
stract it from the Living Person of its Founder. 
He is felt by His people to be their Living 
Lord, really present with them now, and even 
unto the end of the world. 

— Henry Parry Liddon, 

English Preacher and Educator. 
1829-1890. ' 



After reading the doctrines of Plato, Soc- 
rates or Aristotle, we feel the specific difference 
between their words and Christ's is the differ- 
ence between an inquiry and a revelation. 
— Joseph Parker, 
An English Preacher and Orator. 
1830-1902. 



Shall we call him an orator or philosopher or 
poet ? He was all. His philosophy of life was 
ornamented with lilies. He was an orator, for 



84 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

his words have sweetly disturbed the air for 
eighteen centuries; He was a philosopher, for 
Statesmen turn to Him for the basis of their 
laws; He was a poet, for he communed with 
nature. He wept in the lonely garden of olives. 
He was full of love and visions of a redeemed 
and transfigured earth. The world was 
changed by His lighting upon it. The earth 
has enjoyed more of summer time and moves in 
an orbit millions of miles nearer to God. The 
walks of life have all been richer and more 
flowery since He passed along. He opened a 
Court of such splendor that beggars entering it 
were turned into Kings, and sinners crossing 
its threshold became Saints. 

— David Swing, American Clergyman, 
1830-1894. 



I suppose that seasons of religious doubt come 
to every man. But I have noticed this in my 
own internal experience, that the older I grow 
the less do I care about the dogmas and theories, 
and the more do I care for the beauty and 
force that are a part of Jesus Christ. There 
is no possible means by which any man or any 
number of men could have created in fiction a 
character like this. It is the very highest type 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 85 

of manhood, and the high ideal which any man 
feels he has the right to imitate, even when he 
knows he cannot reach it. 

— James A. Garfield, 
Twentieth President of the 
1831-1881. United States. 



Did not the prayer of the great Master of 
Nazareth teach all men and all ages that prayer 
must be the stirring of love ? 

— Maurice B. Hirsch, 

1831-1896. Hebrew Philanthropist 



Here is the noblest exhibition of love; here 
is a perfect example; here are all the highest 
virtues in their highest exercise; here is the 
fulfillment of ages of prophecy; here is the 
atonement in progress for the redemption of 
man ; here is the central battle, and here is to be 
the central victory of the universe. 

— F. ~N. Peloubet, 

1831 — American Commentator. 



It was but thirty-three short years of a short 
lifetime that he lived on earth, it was but three 
broken and troubled years that he preached the 



86 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

gospel of the kingdom; but forever even until 
all the eons have been closed, and the earth 
itself, with the things that now are, have passed 
away, shall every one of his true children find 
peace and hope and forgiveness in His name ; 
and that name shall be Inrmanuel, which is, 
being interpreted, God with us. 

— Feedebick W. Faeeab, 
1831-1903. Dean of Canterbury. 



"Who is it that is coming again to judge the 
world i If it is not the uncreated eternal Son 
of God himself, then the world is still lying 
in sin, unransomed, and without hope of sal- 
vation. We must believe that our Lord and 
our God is our brother man, or lose our glimpse 
of the invisible, and never hear another echo 
from the eternal world. 

— YTolcott Calkins, 

1831 — American Clergyman. 



Cheist was either the greatest and guiltiest 

of impostors or he was God manifested in the 

flesh. 

• •••••• 

Othee men have said " If I could only live, I 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 87 

would establish and perpetuate an empire." 
This Christ of Galilee says " My death shall do 
it." 

— Herrick Johnson, 
1832-1913. American Clergyman. 



Jesus Christ simply lived his life, and acted 
on the Jewish world, as an electric current upon 
water; separated its elements. 

— Stopford A. Brooke, 

1832 — English Divine and Author. 



For the man Christ who loved his fellow- 
men and believed in the Infinite Father, who 
would shield the innocent and protect the just ; 
for the martyr who expected to be rescued from 
the cruel cross, and who at last, finding that his 
hope was dust, cried out in the gathering gloom, 
" My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken 
me ? " — for that great and suffering man I have 
the highest admiration and respect. They 
crucified a kind and perfectly innocent man. 
Had I lived in his day I would have been his 
friend. His life is worth its example — its 
moral force, its heroism of benevolence. For 
that name I have infinite respect and love. To 



88 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

that great and serene man I gladly pay my 
homage of admiration and my tears. The 
place where man has died for man is holy 
ground. 

KoBERT G. InGERSOLL, 

1833-1899. American Infidel Orator. 



Christ alone of all religious founders had 
the courage to say to his disciples : " Go, teach 
all nations." 

— Cardinal James Gibbons, 

1834 — American Clergyman. 



Suppose that Christ were now to come in at 
yonder door, and should ask as He asked His 
disciples once, " Whom do men say that I, the 
Son of Man, am ? " O, if I might be your joy- 
ful spokesman, I would tell him, " O, blessed 
Christ, the world has not forgotten Thee. 
Biographies of Thee are in all the libraries." 

" But whom do men say that I am ? " If my 
tongue did not cling to the roof of my mouth, I 
would say, " Some say that Thou art a myth, a 
fancy portrait, and that a myth has changed the 
face of the world ! " And then suppose he 
should demand of us, " But whom say ye that I 






Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 89 

am?" O, if again I might be your happy 
spokesman, on bended knees and with streaming 
eyes I would cry, " Thou art Christ, the Son of 
the Living God. Thyself very man and very 
God." 

— Cyrus D. Foss, 

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

1834-1910. 



Christ is the great central fact in the world's 
history. To him everything looks forward or 
backward. All the lines of history converge 
upon him. All the great purposes of God 
culminate in him. The greatest and most mo- 
mentous fact which the history of the world 
records is the fact of his birth. 

— Charles H. Spurgeon, 

1834-1892. English Clergyman. 



We have found the Christ and loved Him, 
and revered Him, and accepted Him; . . . 
We found in this Christ, in His patience, in His 
courage, in His heroism, in His self-sacrifice, in 
His unbounded mercy and love an ideal that 
transcends all other ideals written by the pen 



90 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

of poet, painted by the brush of artist, or graven 
into the life of human history. 

We believe that no other revelation transcends 
and no other equals that which God has made 
to man in the one transcendental human life 
that was lived Eighteen Centuries ago in 
Palestine. 

— Lyman Abbott, 

1835 — American Pulpit Orator. 



For Christ is born of Mary 
And, gathered all above 
While mortals sleep, and angels keep 
Their watch, of wondering love. 

How silently, how silently 
The wondrous gift is given! 
So God imparts to human hearts 
The blessing of his heaven. 

No ear may hear his coming ; 

But in this world of Sin, 

Where meek souls will receive Him still, 

The dear Christ enters in. 

— Phillips Brooks, 
1835-1893. American Pulpit Orator. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 91 

This character, of which Christ was the per- 
fect model, is in itself so attractive, so " alto- 
gether lovely/ 7 that I cannot describe in lan- 
guage the admiration with which I regard it; 
nor can I express the gratitude I feel for the 
dispensation which bestowed that example on 
mankind, for the truths which he taught, and 
the sufferings he endured for our sakes. I 
tremble to think what the world would be with- 
out him. 



O Master, let me walk with Thee 
In lowly paths of service free ; 
Tell me thy secret ; help me to bear 
The strain of toil, the fret of care. 

In hope that sends a shining ray 
Far down the future's broadening way ; 
In peace that only thou canst give ; 
With thee, O Master, let me live. 
— Washington Gladden, 
1836 — American Author. 



I commit my soul into the hands of my 
Saviour, in full confidence that having redeemed 
it and washed it in his most precious blood, he 
will present it faultless before the throne of my 



92 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

heavenly father, and I intreat my children to 
maintain and defend at all hazard and at any 
cost of personal sacrifice the blessed doctrine of 
the complete atonement for sin through the blood 
of Jesus Christ, once offered, and through that 
alone. 

— John Pierpont Morgan, 
1837-1913. American Capitalist 

(First paragraph of his will.) 



Our nation would not be in existence and it 
could not hope to live if it were not Christian in 
every fibre. That is what has made it and 
what will save it in all its perils. Whenever we 
have departed from this conception of life and 
thought, nationality has suffered., character has 
declined and difficulties have increased. In its 
essentials we stand by our Faith, exercise pa- 
tience, show charity, tolerate all beliefs, but al- 
ways with the conviction that our own will soon 
conquer in the end so as to extend its influence 
more and more over men in every part of the 
world. 

— Grover Cleveland, 
Twenty-Second President of the United States. 

1837-1908. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 93 

What think ye of Christ ? It is of little im- 
portance what the world thinks of any one else : 
but every living soul on the face of this earth is 
concerned with this man. 

As a preacher and a teacher; he spake as 
never man spake. How fresh those wonderful 
sermons are, how they live to-day. As a physi- 
cian ; there were no incurable diseases with him. 
As a comforter see him in the little town of 
Bethany binding up the wounded hearts. The 
weary may find a resting place upon his breast 
and the friendless may reckon him their friend. 
He never varies, he never fails, he never dies. 
His sympathy is ever fresh, his love is ever free. 
— Dwight L. Moody, 

1837-1908. American Evangelist 



What if a man should appear filled with a 
life that leaves him in constant communication 
with God? What if there should come into 
existence a sinless soul ? What if there should 
appear in history a being in this sense above 
nature? Is it not to be expected that he will 
have power over nature, and perform works 
above nature? Endowed as the Author of 
Christianity was, we should naturally expect, 



94 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

from that supernatural endowment, works not 
natural, but supernatural. 

— Joseph Cook, 
1838-1901. American Lecturer, 



It was reserved for Christianity to present 
to the world an Ideal Character, which, through 
all the changes of eighteen centuries, has filled 
the hearts of man with an impassioned love, and 
has shown itself capable of acting on all ages, 
nations, temperaments, conditions; and which 
has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, 
but the highest incentive to its practice. 
— William E. H. Lecky, 

Irish Author and Historian, 

1838-1903. 



This true soul, the ruler of nations, sinless 
and infinite, a God and a man, is an established 
fact. 

— Luther Tracy Townsend, 

1838 — American Clergyman, 



Jesus Christ, the Person that literature felt 
to be its loftiest ideal, philosophy conceived as 
its highest personality, criticism as its supreme 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 95 

problem, theology as its fundamental doctrine, 

religion as its cardinal necessity. 
— Andrew Martin Fairbairn, 
1838 — Scottish Clergyman. 



I love Jesus Christ because be loved men. 
— Henry George, 
American Political Economist 
1839-1897. 



I am safe with Him. He has other worlds 
and I want to go. I have always believed in 
Christ. He is the incarnate God. . . . How 
beautiful it is to be with God. 

— Frances E. Willard, 
1839-1898. (Her last words.) 

American Temperance Reformer. 



Where, in all the past, has there arisen a 
lawgiver, prophet or teacher fairly comparable 
to this Man of Nazareth? We take no laurel 
from another's brow, but we show, beyond a 
question, that Jesus is supreme. 

— Milton S. Terry, A.M., D.D., LL.D., 
American Educator and Author. 

1840-1914. 



96 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

The movement of the gospel is the miracle 
of history; its progressive conquest of its en- 
vironment is the mightiest victory recorded in 
the annals of mankind: here are displays of 
heroism that Alexander might have envied and 
Caesar would have listened to, amazed. The 
Tenth Legion of Jesus Christ, His glorious com- 
pany of martyrs recruited from all countries 
and from all ages, marches across the centuries, 
trampling triumphantly upon the slaveries and 
barbarisms, the organized unrighteousness and 
the disorganizing brutality of the ancient and 
mediaeval world. Yet the splendor and variety 
of this historic miracle, of this unfolding power 
of an endless life, is too little known or scarcely 
known at all. The splendor of it and the in- 
spiration of it both are lost. 

— Charles J. Little, 
American Clergyman and Educator. 

1840-1911. 



Jesus of Nazareth is worthy to be the per- 
petual text of all preaching, the perpetual theme 
of all religionists, and the perpetual object of 
devout studentship. The same cannot be said 
of any other man that ever lived, no matter what 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 97 

was the extent of his genius, the order of his 
talents or the fashion of their exercise. 
— W. H. H. Murray, 
American Congregational Divine. 
1840-1904. 



If the Son of God only inhabited the man 
Jesus, He might save that man, but how could 
He accomplish the salvation of the human race ? 
Such an inhabitation of the Son of God would 
not differ in principle from the indwelling of the 
divine spirit in a man. The man Jesus would 
be a prophet, a hero, a great exemplar, but not 
the Saviour of mankind. 

— Prof. C. A. Briggs, 
American Clergyman and Theologian. 

1841-1913. 



But Thee, but Thee, O sovereign Seer of time, 
But Thee, O poets' Poet, Wisdom's Tongue, 
But Thee, O man's best Man, O love's best love, 
O perfect life in perfect labor writ, 
O all men's Comrade, Servant, King, or 

Priest, — 
What if or yet, what mole, what flaw, what 

lapse 
What least defect or shadow of defect, 



98 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

What rumor, tattled by an enemy, 
Of inference loose, what lack of grace 
Even in torture's grasp, or sleep's or death's, — 
Oh, what amiss may I forgive in Thee, 
Jesus, good Paragon, thou Crystal Christ ? 
— Sidney Lanter, 
1842-1881. American Poet. 



We cannot close our eyes to the one great 
fact that this man Jesus must have made a won- 
derful impression upon his hearers, by the thou- 
sand and one sweet things that he said. . . . 
His greatness belonged to no school. He was a 
man of the people. The Essene ideal of love 
and brotherly kindness took new form in him. 
He felt that divine power of pity which cares 
not for the pollution of sinners, if only the sins 
can be wiped out by the tears of penitence. He 
had, unlike any other teacher or prophet, a mes- 
sage, a gospel of heavenly redemption for the 
despised, the illiterate, the forsaken, and they 
crowned him with the diadem of the Messiah. 
— Kaufmans Kohlee, 

1843 — Hebrew Theologian. 

It is far more important to know who Jesus 
was than to know what Jesus said. The moral- 
ity of the teachings of Jesus in the New Testa- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 99 

ment would not rest upon any adequate founda- 
tion if Jesus had no authority. But if we be- 
lieve in the divinity of Christ we need give our- 
selves no trouble about his teachings. When 
you leave out the divinity of Christ the author- 
ity for his teachings goes also. 

— Francis L. Patton, 
1843 — Ex-President of Princeton. 

From address delivered at 
St. Louis, Oct. 24, 1915. 



Executive Mansion, 
Washington, D. C, May 25, 1899. 
My belief embraces the Divinity of Christ 
and a recognition of Christianity as the might- 
iest factor in the world's civilization. 

— William McKinley, 
Twenty-Fourth President of the United States. 
1843-1901. 



Thus vanished from the earth Jesus of 
Nazareth, the Son of God. 

Evil never touched his spirit. Corruption 
did not approach his body. Even his ashes 
were not permitted to remain in the soil of the 
land that had slain him. 

He was born in denial of the laws of life. 



100 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

He died in defiance of the laws of death. He 
was Lord of law. Ideal of sacrifice, Master of 
suffering, the grandest intellect, the purest heart 
that this low world has known — its Supreme 
Soul — he passed. 

He has left us the faith which bears his name. 
He has left us the august opportunity of ever- 
lasting life. 

There is not, there never was, there never 
may be, a miracle as strange as the life of Jesus 
the Christ. He was the miracle. Explain 
Him. There will be no difficulty with any 
lesser wonder. 

— Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 

1844-1911. American Author. 

Christ is the Son of God. He is this in the 
pre-eminent sense; in a sense which is not true 
of any and all other beings. He is the one re- 
vealer of God to man. He is equally the re- 
vealer to man of what God would have man to 
be, of what God purposes that he shall be. Con- 
cerning the supreme problems of the redemp- 
tion and salvation of humanity, problems with 
which unlimited divinity alone can deal, Christ 
alone furnishes the only solution. While the 
name of Christ is acknowledged as the greatest 
of names there is proof abundant that as yet the 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 101 

world has very little comprehended His great- 
ness. He is the one transcendent and inde- 
scribable Personality of History. 
— George P. Mains, 
1844 — Methodist Clergyman, 



If Jesus Christ is a man, 

And only man, I say 
That of all mankind I cleave to Him 

And to Him I will cleave alway. 

If Jesus Christ is a God 

And the only God, I swear 
I will follow Him through heaven and hell, 

The earth, the sea, and the air. 
— Richard Watson Gilder, 

American poet and editor. 
1844-1909. 



Jesus Christ challenges the faith of the 
world because he is the Son of Man. He could 
not be the Son of God if he were not the Son 
of Man. If there were the slightest fragments 
of this race that he ignored, or for whom his 
instructions were not intended, or for whom he 
did not suffer, then he is not the Saviour of 
Mankind. 

He that comes as the Sun of righteousness 



102 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

comes with healing in his wings for all the na- 
tions of the earth, and he who comes announcing 
his mighty programme, comes announcing him- 
self as the world's one hope and Redeemer and 
Saviour. The universality of his claim is 
fundamental. He stakes everything upon it. 
And in so doing, he has broadened the minds of 
his disciples and taught us to believe that this 
religion which he promulgated and which he 
lived, which springs from his open sepulcher, 
is intended to be universal. 

— Eugene R. Hendeix, 
1847 — Bishop M. E. Church, South. 



He spent his life among the narrowest and 
most exclusive of all races ; and yet, without the 
broadening influences of reading or travel or 
educated companionship, he presents a charac- 
ter, a spirit, a sympathy, a doctrine, as broad as 
mankind and as profound as human need. 
— Josiah Steong, 

1847 — American Clergyman and Author. 



Cheist is a rare jewel, but men know not his 
value; a sun which ever shines but men per- 
ceive not his brightness nor walk in his light. 
He is a garden full of sweets, a hive full of 







M. Munkacsy 



WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 103 

honey, a sun without a spot, a star ever bright, a 
fountain ever full, a brook which ever flows, a 
rose which ever blooms, a foundation which 
never yields, a guide who never errs, a friend 
who never forsakes. 

No mind can fully grasp his glory: his 
beauty, his worth, his importance. No tongue 
can fully declare. He is the source of all good, 
the fountain of all excellency, the mirror of per- 
fection, the light of heaven, the wonder of earth, 
time's master-piece and eternity's glory ; the sun 
of bliss, the way of life, and life's fair way. 
— Arthur James Balfour, 

1848 — British Statesman and Essayist. 

Every one of these New Testament teachers 
held and taught the Divinity of Christ. That 
great truth is wrought into the warp and woof 
of the New Testament. You must tear the book 
to shreds, and scatter the fragments to the four 
winds if you would get rid of it. 

— Walter Frederick Adeney, 
English Clergyman and Author. 

1849 — 



" Thou art the Christ," said a Jewish peasant 
with instinctive conviction, "the Son of the 
Living God." Centuries have only confirmed 



104 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

this spontaneous tribute to Jesus' life. No one 
has yet discovered the word which Jesus ought 
not to have said; none suggested a better word 
that he might have said. No action of his has 
fallen short of the ideal. This man alone never 
made a false step, never struck a jarring note. 
— John Watson, 
English Clergyman and Author. 
1850-1907. 

The Divinity of Jesus is the truth which now 
requires to be reperceived, to be illumined 
afresh by new knowledge, to be cleansed and 
revivified by the wholesome flood of scepticism 
which has poured over it; it can be freed now 
from all trace of grovelling superstition, and 
can be recognized freely and enthusiastically. 
— Sir Oliver J. Lodge, 

1851 — : English Scientist 

Very often the prophet did not stand the test 
of being himself an example of his message. 
But in this case the message brought was of the 
prof oundest and most comprehensive character ; 
it went to the very root of mankind and, al- 
though set in the framework of the Jewish na- 
tion, it addressed itself to the whole of human- 
ity- — the message from God the Father. De- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 105 

f ective it is not, and its real kernel may be read- 
ily freed from the inevitable husk of contem- 
porary form. Antiquated it is not, and in life 
and strength it still triumphs today over all the 
past. He who delivered it has as yet yielded 
His place to no man, and to human life He still 
today gives a meaning and an aim — He the 
Son of God. 

— Adolf Harnack, 
1851 — German Theologian. 

Jesus comes, not only with a new standard 
of greatness, but with a new greatness; not 
simply with a new precept, but with a new per- 
sonality. In the greatness of His personality 
and in the personality of His greatness, He 
transcends all the historic ideals. 

When this !N~azarene, this sweet-toned 
Prophet, stood on Calvary, with all the purpose 
and willingness of self-sacrifice in Him, He rose 
above men, out of the realm of mere humanity, 
into the higher Sonship of God, with a name 
supreme above every name. 

— Frank M. Bristol, 

1851— Bishop of M. E. Church. 

Christ built no church, wrote no book, left 
no money, and erected no monuments ; yet show 



106 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

me ten square miles in the whole earth without 
Christianity where the life of man or the purity 
of women are respected and I will give up 
Christianity. 

— Heney Deummond, 

Scotch Religious Author, 
1851-1897. 

November 27, 1915. 

We reverently acknowledge Jesus Christ as 
the Supreme Author of all that is greatest and 
best in this world. 

— Chaeles W. Faiebanks, 
1852— Ex-Vice President U. S. 

(In a letter to the author.) 

The career of Jesus was a romantic poem, an 
epic of passion and an heroic hope — one of the 
terrific tragedies in the wars of God. It every- 
where touches the ideal, the one eternal King- 
dom of poesy. It begins with a soft idyl of 
wonder and joy, passes through whirlwind and 
earthquake, rising at last to the white calm of 
eternity. 

Up these perilous paths of ascension, passing 
forever on, this Lover and Hero won the right 
to be our God! And may we not believe too, 
that all these centuries he has been faithful to 




Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 107 

love, preparing the many mansions, setting in 
order the nations of the dead and fighting for 
mankind as the Invisible warrior in the world- 
battle ? 

— Edwin Maekham, 
1852 — American Poet 



He was Son of Man as only realizing all 
which in the idea of man was contained as the 
Second Adam, the head and representative of 
the race, — the one trne and perfect flower which 
ever unfolded itself out of the root and stock of 
humanity. 

— Henry Jackson Vandyke, 

American Educator and Author. 
1852— 



O Brother mine of birth Divine, 
Upon this natal day of Thine, 
Bear with our stress of happiness 
Nor count our reverence less, 
Because with glee and jubilee, 
Our hearts go singing up to thee. 
— James Whitcomb Riley, 
1853-1916. American Poet 



108 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Eveey word of his in public or private, every 
action, every look and gesture was a lesson in 
life. His acts of life-giving in the lower 
(physical) sphere were the foundation of his 
life-giving in the higher (spiritual) sphere. 
— Albert Bushxell Hart, 

1854 — American Historian. 



The wise men ask, " What language did Christ 

speak ? " 
They cavil, argue, search, and little prove. 
Oh Sages, leave your Syriac and your Greek! 
Christ spoke the universal language — LOVE. 
— Ella Wheelee Wilcox, 
1855 — American Poet. 



All the greatest men of the past generation 
seemed to have joined Christ's triumphal pro- 
cession. The waxino; fame of Christ is the 
most striking fact of our era. The time seems 
rapidly approaching when society will have but 
one Hero and King, at whose feet humanity 
will empty all its songs and flowers, its prayers 
and its tears. 

— Newell Dwight Hillis, 

1858 — American Pulpit Orator. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 109 

He alone stands at the absolute center of hu- 
manity, the one completed harmonious man, un- 
folding all which was in humanity, equally and 
fully on all sides, the only one in whom the real 
and ideal met and were absolutely one. He is 
the absolute and perfect truth, the highest that 
humanity can reach; at once its perfect image 
and supreme Lord. 

— Charles W. Trench, 

1858 — American Educator. 



The character of Jesus tremendously rein- 
forces his beliefs. He was sane and wise, 
wholly free from all foolishness; He was free 
from even the suspicion of evil ; His life was all 
that a life should be, when judged by the high- 
est standards. He was the master of living, of 
character-making in Himself and other men. 
I do not know of any better way yet than to live 
with Him and to live like Him, to submit your- 
selves wholly to His influence and to His ideals. 
The way to cure our condition is to put on 
Christ as a garment and to have Him formed in 
us as a power as well as a hope. He is the 
solvent of life's moral contradictions. 

— William F. McDowell, 
Bishop of Methodist Episcopal Church. 

1858— ' 



110 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Crown Him, monarchs, seers and sages, 
Crown Him, bards in deathless pages : 
Crown Him King of all the ages ! 

Let the mighty anthem rise. 
Hark ! the crash of tuneful noises ; 
Hark ! the children's thrilling voices, 
Hark! the world in song rejoices, 

Till the chorus shakes the skies. 

— George Lansing Taylor, 
1859 — American Educator. 



He was the glowing hope toward which the 
Hebrews turned for twenty-five hundred years, 
and is the inspiration of the great hopes human- 
ity now cherishes — a righteous world, univer- 
sal peace and immortality. 

— Edwin A. Schell, 
American Educator arid Preacher. 
1859— 



What the German peoples have become, they 
have become under the banner of the cross. 
Our confidence is in Jesus Christ and in the 
God of Hosts ; there is no other help for us and 
we will hold our posts. 

— William II, 

1859 — Emperor of Germany. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 111 

The Prince's power makes him God. He 
mastered every foe that ever mastered men. 
He gave the deathblow to sin. He smote the 
shackles from the slave's soul. He discrowned 
man's destroyer and laid him low. He has 
turned the sluices of salvation into the souls of 
sinners and made them singing saints. The 
record is spread over the pages of history for the 
critic's keenest scrutiny; let men read and re- 
joice. He has wrenched the precious prey from 
the teeth of death. He has sung the lyrics of 
life into the grave's gloom. Hail, great Gali- 
lean ! — Great God. 

— Charles Coke Woods, 

American Clergyman and Author. 
(From " Our Spiritual Skies/') 

1860— 



Reared in the home of a carpenter, never hav- 
ing access to the wisdom of the past, never com- 
ing in contact with the sages of other lands, and 
yet, when only thirty years of age He gave to 
the world a code of morality the like of which 
the world has never seen. He preached for a 
few months and gathered around him a few 
disciples. Then he was crucified ; his disciples 
scattered and most of them put to death. And 
yet from this beginning His religion has spread 



112 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

until hundreds of millions have taken His name 
with reverence upon their lips, and millions 
have been ready to die rather than surrender 
the faith He put in their hearts. How do you 
explain this fact in history? It is easier to 
believe Him divine than to explain in any other 
way what he said and did and was. Christ has 
earned the title of " Prince of Peace." 
— William Jennings Bryan, 

American Statesman and Orator. 
1860— 



There was ever a wistfulness in Jesus' voice. 
A wistful look was in his eyes, a wistful mood 
was in his tears, a wistful cadence gave his 
words a rainy sweetness of tears and laughter 
intermingled. 

His custom was compassion. He was not 
ominous or despairing, for his prophecy swung 
golden bells in a blue sky and rung them as a 
holy hymnic chime. 

Christ was wistful for a world; he dwelt 
among races of provincials. The Jew, the 
Greek, the Roman were all provincials. Then 
provinces differed a little, but only a little. 
Christ whispered, trumpeted, wept, sung, 
preached, lived, died — all framing a wide, un- 
provincial word — the WORLD. Christ, God- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 113 

man, blood of our blood and the mingled blood 
spilled for the world has produced a World 
Brotherhood. 

— Wm. A. Quayle, 
1861— Bishop of M. E. Church. 



Kejecting all the miracles of Christ, we still 
have the miracle of Christ himself. 
— Charles W. Bovee, 

1861 — American Educator. 

Wherein does Jesus Christ fail to come up 
to your standard and the highest conception of 
the greatest Godlike Spirit? Show me one 
flaw in his character. I challenge any infidel 
on earth to make good his claims that Christ 
was an ordinary man. The name of Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God, is greater than any. It 
is holding five hundred million people by its 
majestic spell and enduring power. 
— William A. Sunday, 

1862 — American Evangelist. 

Jesus started the mightiest revolution of all 
times. It has not ended; it will never end — 
never can end. For it is not enough that na- 
tions formally shall adopt the faith of the 



114 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Crucified One; it is not enough that the world 
nominally shall become Christian; it will be 
enough only when every human being in the 
sanctuary of his soul shall acknowledge and in 
his daily life shall practice every teaching of 
the Nazarine. 

— Albert J. Beveridge, 
1862— U. 8. Senator. 



I have been trying for thirty-five years to 
tell what I have seen in Christ. How much can 
be put in a sentence ? His life is a pattern ; His 
word is law; His love is inspiration; and to 
exalt Him makes life worth living and death 
worth dying. 

— William O. Shephard, 

1862— Bishop of M. E. Church. 

He always did the things that pleased God. 
The great ideal has come from the air to the 
earth. The fair vision has become concrete in 
a man. $Tow I want to see that man ; and if I 
see that man I shall see in him a revelation of 
what God's purpose is for men and I shall see 
therefore, a revelation of what the highest pos- 
sibility of life is. I want to see him; I want 
to oatch the notes of the music that makes up 
the perfect harmony which was the dropping of 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 115 

a song out of God's heaven upon man's earth, 
that man might catch the key-note of it and 
make music in his own life. He says, " I al- 
ways do the things that are pleasing to Him " 
and history has vindicated his statement. 
— G. Campbell Morgan, 

English Congregational Preacher. 
1863— 



The net result of the fierce conflict which has 
raged for the last seventy-five years around the 
New Testament documents has been to make 
clearer than ever the solidity of the historical 
basis of Christianity and the incomparable posi- 
tion of Christ as the supreme Person of history. 
— George Jackson, 
American Clergyman and Theologian. 
1864— 



Where I love Christ most is on the other side 
of Calvary ; when it was all hazard and He was 
man and God because He did so much, dared 
so much ; gave up His life without counting on 
any other victory than the one which would be 
His when it would be all mankind's. 
— Edward Lincoln Atkinson, 
1865-1902. American Author. 



116 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Do we find in the Bible not only a way to be 
followed, and a goal of arrival to be gained, but 
a Life that will help lives along the way toward 
the goal 1 Does the Bible really reveal the way 
to Truth and the Life? The evidences of dy- 
namic are in the realms of human experience. 
More and more the students of holy scriptures, 
who scan the pages with a religious purpose, 
will find that all departments of human lives 
wait on Jesus for their meaning and come to 
Him for their power. He is the Saviour. He 
lifts men out of their sins up into a trembling 
and glorious idealism and still up into a passion 
for efficient goodness. 

— Edwix H. Hughes, 
Bishop Methodist Episcopal Church. 

1866 — 



Let me point you to a power which even to- 
day can cope with any emergency: Christ, the 
power of righteousness. He makes men right 
with God. He places them in harmony with 
the eternal, in tune with the infinite. He takes 
the weary, wayward child by the hand and leads 
it back to the Father's house. He clears the 
conscience of the awful, raking, embittering, 
debilitating consciousness of unforgiven guilt. 
He gives peace to the soul, peace that makes us 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 117 

calm and strong. He blots out the record of our 
folly and sin and shame which we wrote down 
upon the pages of life's story. He brings us 
into fellowship with God, so that his life be- 
comes ours and our life is wrapped up in His. 
— John L. Nueesen, D.D., 
1867— Bishop of M. E. Church. 



Christ we may be sure will never be less to 
thought, He must always be more. He will be 
more, always more human, and in the light of 
His human achievement His little brothers will 
do deeds hitherto counted too glorious even for 
dreams. And He will be always more divine; 
so that men seeing, as never before, the Godli- 
ness of God in His loving, simple peasant life, 
will rise to sing their trust and happiness, and 
then will, like lovers and saints, as in a frenzy 
of gratitude, go forth, for His sake, to give life, 
death, and joy — if only they may tell another 
of their Saviour and their God. 

— Charles Lewis Slattery, 

American Clergyman and Author, 

1867 — 

And he shall charm and soothe, and breathe 

and bless, 
The roaring of war shall cease upon the air, 



118 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

Falling of tears and all the voices of sorrow, 
And he shall take the terror from the grave. 

And he shall still that old sob of the sea, 
And heal the unhappy fancies of the wind, 
And turn the moon from all that hopeless quest ; 
Trees without care shall blossom, and all the 

fields 
Shall without labour unto harvest come. 
— Stephen Phillips, 

English poet and dramatist. 
1868-1916. 

Executive Department State of Ohio, 

Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 17, 1915. 
The steadily advancing world conquest of the 
message of Jesus Christ is history's outstanding 
characteristic of the last two thousand years. 
It has been a gradual progress, not without its 
handicaps and discouragements. Sometimes, as 
now in the world's greatest war, it has appar- 
ently suffered most in the example set by its fol- 
lowers and friends. But steadily it has gone 
ahead, eliminating inhumanity, teaching men 
how better to live, developing the civilization of 
both the individual man and the races, bringing 
the whole world to a sense of the infinite possi- 
bilities both of life and of death. It may not 
be tomorrow but surely and eventually it will 







LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY! 



H. Hofmann, 1824- 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 119 

come to pass that the world will pay true hom- 
age, render true acceptance, to the religion of 
the great Master, Jesus Christ. 



Christianity stands today for what it has al- 
ways stood and will continue to stand through 
the ages. Where there is civilization there is 
love and reverence for Jesus Christ. As there 
could be no shadow were it not for the light so 
there could be no Christianity were it not for 
the love of Jesus. 

— Frank: B. Willis, 

1871 — • Governor of Ohio, 

In a letter to the author. 



It will be strange indeed if we do not arrive 
at the conclusion that the world has still in 
Jesus Christ something to grow into instead of 
out of, and that when we shall have reached the 
new boundaries he has set, it will be time enough 
to think of a new prophet and a new religion. 
— Winston Churchill, 

English Author and Statesman. 
1874— 



120 Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 

We accept Jesus for what lie was — a Jewish 
teacher, a Jewish leader, a prophet in Israel, 
clear-visioned, tenderly loving, selfless, God- 
like. More than that, we do not believe Jesus 
to have been. 



Jesus was not humanlv divine, but he was 
divinelv human : not divinelv humanized but a 
Godward-bent human soul. It is no mean joy 
and no ignoble pride in us of the House of 
Israel to recognize, to honor and to cherish 
among our brothers — Jesus the Jew. 
— Kabbi Stephen S. Wise, 

1872 — American Jewish Rabbi. 



The abiding and eternal in Jesus is abso- 
lutely independent of historic knowledge and 
can only be understood by contact with his 
spirit, which is still at work in the world. In 
proportion as we have the spirit of Jesus we 
have the true knowledge of Jesus. 
— Albert Schweitzer, 

1875 — Theologian. 



Tributes of Great Men to Jesus Christ 121 

With us, as with the disciples, the road to 
the acceptance of the deity of Jesus is to open 
the life to the whole impression he makes upon 
us. Larger and larger this personality then 
grows until only one word is great enough to 
describe him. The Church has never been able 
to rest without this great word when it has 
spoken of Jesus. The testimony of the Chris- 
tian centuries is that to feel the full impact of 
his life involves the necessity of calling him 
God. 

— Lynn Harold Hough, 

1877— American Educator. 



INDEX 



Abbott, John S. C, 59 
Abbott, Lyman, 90 
Abraham, Patriarch, 11 
Adams, John, 44 
Adams, John Quincy, 49 
Adeney, W. F., 103 
Alfred the Great, 30 
Ambrose, St., 29 
Andrew, the Disciple, 19 
Angels of Heaven, 17-24 
Arnold, Matthew, 78 
Atkinson, Edward Lincoln, 

115 
Augustine, St. of Hippo, 30 

Bailey, Samuel, 54 
Bakewell, John, 42 
Balaam, Prophet, 12 
Balfour, Arthur J., 103 
Bancroft, George, 58 
Beecher, Henry Ward, 71 
Bernard of Clairvaux, 31 
Beveridge, Albert J., 114 
Binney, Thomas, 57 
Bismarck, Otto Von, 73 
Boardman, George Dana, 

82 
Bolingbroke, Henry St. 

John, 38 
Bovee, Charles, 113 
Bowen, Francis, 74 
Bridge, William, 34 
Bridges, Matthew, 57 
Briggs, C. A., 97 

123 



Bristol, Frank M., 105 
Brooke, Stopford A., 87 
Brooks, Phillips, 90 
Browning, Elizabeth Bar- 
rett, 65 
Browning, Robert, 70 
Bryan, William J., 112 
Bryant, William Cullen, 55 
Burns, Robert, 48 
Butler, Joseph, 39 
Byron, Lord, 54 

Caiphas, High Priest, 22 
Calkins, Wolcott, 86 
Carlyle, Thomas, 56 
Carpenter, William Benja- 
min, 72 
Centurion, Roman, 23 
Channing, William Ellery, 

53 
Chateaubriand, Francis, 49 
Chatterton, Thomas, 46 
Chubb, Thomas, 38 
Churchill, Winston, 119 
Claims of Jesus, 21 
Clark, James Freeman, 67 
Claudius, Matthias, 45 
Clay, Henry, 52 
Cleopas, a Disciple, 23 
Cleveland, Grover, 92 
Coleridge, Samuel T., 52 
Cook, Joseph, 94 

David, the King, 12 



124 



Index 



Decker, Thomas, 34 

De Witte, Wilhelm Martin, 

53 
Dickens, Charles, 71 
Diderot, Denis, 41 
Disciples of Jesus, 19 
Disraeli, Benjamin, 60 
Drummond, Henry, 106 
Dryden, John, 35 

Edwards, Jonathan, 39 
Elizabeth, Mother of John, 

16 
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 59 
Enoch, Book of, 15 
Epiphanius, 28 

Fairbairn, Andrew M., 95 
Fairbanks, Charles W., 106 
Farrar, Frederick W., 86 
Fichte, Immanuel H., 56 
Foss, Cyrus D., 89 
Foster, Randolph S., 76 
Franklin, Benjamin, 40 
French, Charles W., 109 

Garfield, James A., 85 
Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 64 
George, Henry, 95 
Gibbons, James ( Cardi- 
nal), 88 
Gilder, Richard W., 101 
Gladden, Washington, 91 
Gladstone, William E., 66 
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang 

Von, 46 
Gregory, Nazianzen, 29 

Haggai, the Prophet, 13 
Harnack, Adolf, 105 
Hart, Albert B., 108 



Heber, Regnald, 54 
Hegel, George Wilhelm, 51 
Hendricks, Eugene R., 102 
Henry, Matthew, 36 
Henry, Patrick, 45 
Herder, Johann Gottfried 

Von, 46 
Herod, Antipas, 20 
Hill, Thomas H., 73 
Hillis, Newell Dwight, 108 
Hirsch, Maurice B., 85 
Hofmann, Ernest T., 52 
Hough, Lynn Harold, 121 
Howe, Julia Ward, 75 
Hughes, Edwin H., 116 
Huss, John, 33 

Ignatius, 27 

Ingersoll, Robert G., 88 

Isaiah, the Prophet, 13 

Jackson, George, 115 
Jacob, the Patriarch, 11 
Jefferson, Thomas, 45 
Jesus, the Christ, 21 
Jews of Christ's Day, 20 
John, St., the Divine, 27 
John the Baptist, 19 
Johnson, Herrick, 87 
Josephus, Flavius, 25 
Judas, the Traitor, 22 
Julian the Apostate, 29 

Kant, Immanuel, 42 
Keim, Theodore, 80 
Kempis, Thomas a., 33 
Kohler, Kaufmann, 98 

Lacordaire, P&re, 58 
Lanier, Sidney, 98 
Lecky, William E. H., 94 



Index 



125 



Le Conte, John, 73 
Lee, Robert E. (Gen'l), 63 
Lentulus, Publius, 32 
Lessing, Gotthold, 42 
Liddon, Henry P., 83 
Lincoln, Abraham, 67 
Little, Charles J., 96 
Lodge, Sir Oliver J., 104 
Longfellow, Henry W., 64 
Lorimer, George, 82 
Lucian, St., 27 
Luther, Martin, 34 

Macaulay, Thomas B., 58 
Macdonald, George, 80 
Maclaren, Alexander, 81 
Mains, George P., 101 
Malachi, the Prophet, 14 
Mann, Horace, 56 
Markham, Edwin, 107 
Martineau, James, 61 
Mary, Mother of Jesus, 17 
Mazzini, Giuseppe, 61 
McDowell, Wm. F., 109 
McKinley, William, 99 
Mill, John Stuart, 62 
Milton, John, 35 
Mohammed, the Prophet, 

30 
Montgomery, James, 51 
Montgomery, Robert, 62 
Moody, Dwight L., 93 
Morgan, George Campbell, 

115 
Morgan, John Pierpont, 92 
Morton, Oliver P., 78 
Moses, the Lawgiver, 11 
Muller, F. Max, 79 
Muller, John Von, 46 
Multitude in Jerusalem, 21 
Murray, W. H. H., 97 



Napoleon I, 51 
Nathanael, a Disciple, 19 
Nicene Creed, 29 
Nicodemus, 21 
Nuelson, John L., 117 

Officers of the Sanhedrin, 
22 

Paine, Thomas, 44 
Parker, Joseph, 83 
Parker, Theodore, 69 
Pascal, Blaise, 35 
Patton, Francis L., 99 
Paul the Apostle, 26 
Peloubet, T. N., 85 
Peter, Simon, 20 
Pharisees, Sect of Jews, 22 
Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart, 

100 
Phillips, Stephen, 118 
Pilate, Pontius, 23 
Pilate's Wife, 23 
Plato, the Philosopher, 13 
Polycarp, the Martyr, 26 
Porter, Noah, 69 
Porteus, Beilby, 43 

Quayle, William A., 113 

Renan, Joseph Ernest, 79 
Richter, Jean Paul, 48 
Riley, James Whitcomb, 

107 
Rosseau, Jean Jacques, 41 
Ruskin, John, 76 

Samaritans, 19 
Schaff, Philip, 75 
Schell, Edwin A., 110 
Schleiermacher, Frederich, 
50 



126 



Index 



Schweitzer, Albert, 120 
Scriven, Joseph, 77 
Shakespeare, William, 34 
Shelley, Percy B., 55 
Shephard, William O., 114 
Sibylline Oracles, 14 
Simeon, Prophet, 18 
Simpson, Matthew, 68 
Slattery, Charles Lewis, 

117 
Spinoza, Baruch, 36 
Spurgeon, Charles H., 89 
Stennet, Joseph, 37 
Strauss, David F., 65 
Strong, Josiah, 102 
Sumner, Charles, 69 
Swedenborg, Emanuel, 39 
Swing, David, 84 
Sunday, Wm. A., 113 



Tacitus, Gaius Cornelius, 

25 
Talleyrand, Charles, 47 
Tauler, Johannes, 32 
Taylor, George Lansing, 

iio 

Taylor, Jeremy, 35 
Taylor, William M., 78 
Tennyson, Alfred, 66 
Terry, Milton S., 95 



Thief on the Cross, 23 
Thomas, a Disciple, 24 
Tolstoi, Count Lyoff Leo, 

82 
Townsend, Luther Tracy, 

94 

Vandyke, Henry Jackson, 
107 

Wagner, Richard, 72 
Wallace, Lew, 81 
Washington, George, 43 
Watson, John, 104 
Watts, Isaac, 37 
Webster, Daniel, 54 
Webster, Noah, 47 
Wescott, Brooke, 80 
Wesley, Charles, 40 
Wesley, John, 40 
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 

64 
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 108 
Willard, Frances E., 95 
William I, 57 
William II, 110 
Willis, Frank B., 119 
Wise Men, 18 
Wise, Rabbi Stephen, 120 
Woman of Samaria, 19 
Woods, Charles Coke, 111 



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